By Geary Danihy
In a theater on Main Street in Stratford , two men sit on a bench…and talk.
That might be the synopsis of Lee
Blessings play, “A Walk in the Woods,” as written by a bored high school
freshman born well after the demise of the Cold War. And he would be right --
it is a play about two men who sit on a bench in the woods and talk – but this
freshman, a bit obtuse and eager to get back to playing “Call of Duty,” would
perhaps miss the point of the conversations these two men are having, for
inherent in what they touch upon, both directly and obliquely, is both the
essence of recent history and, more important, the essence of man’s eternal
search for a way to end conflict, an uneasy exercise, fraught with distrust, in
finding a formula that might just lead to a tentative setting aside of shields
and swords,
As capably directed by Square One
Theatre Company’s artistic director Tom Holehan, “A Walk in the Woods,” which
was nominated for a Tony award and a Pulitzer Prize when it first appeared in
1988, is invested not only with a sense of the recent historical past but also,
in this production, with just a bit of nostalgia, for Pat Leo, who plays the
Russian diplomat Andrey Botvinnik, has appeared in this play once before at
Square One. He did so 25 years ago, for “A Walk in the Woods” was the first play
Square One boarded, and Leo played the role of John Honeyman, the young
American negotiator, played in this production by Damian Long, who is making
his Square One debut.
The play is set in the woods
outside of Geneva, the city where Soviet and American diplomats are trying to
hammer out an arms limitation treaty that might just nudge the world several
inches back from the abyss of Armageddon. The talks are not going well, for
there is distrust and hidden agendas on both sides, but in the woods two of the
negotiators meet on a regular basis to see if some common ground can be found.
Botvinnik, the Russian, has a wry sense of humor, is sophisticated and a master
at the give and take of diplomacy, but as ably portrayed by Leo, he is also
jaded, cynical and holds out little hope for the success of the negotiations.
Botvinnik’s counterpart, Honeyman,
is new to the negotiation game, and although the American is eager to bring the
negotiations to a successful conclusion, he is naïve and just a bit stiff and
pompous.
There are actually two sets of
negotiations going on in this play: the stated one dealing with arms reduction,
which the audience hears about but never sees, and the more inter-personal
negotiations between two human beings learning how to talk to each other and,
if possible, become friends. Thus, Leo and Long are charged with creating an
atmosphere that, on the personal level, mirrors the hesitancy and distrust that
exists at the negotiating table in Geneva .
This they do quite admirably, for over the course of the two-act play each
character slowly sheds his status as negotiator and simply becomes a person
seeking to understand another person, which is obviously at the heart of
playwright Blessing’s message, for if we cannot understand and reach accord as
fellow members of the human race, then we will forever be ruled by nationalism
and the false pride engendered by our proclaimed “differences.”
It may sound as if the play’s
content is weighted down by socio-political theory, but that is not the case.
Although the play deals with weighty subjects and touches on the disparate,
perhaps intransigent, nature of the two political systems these men represent,
the growing relationship between the men, separated as they are by culture and
decades, is the play’s focus, and is presented with a great deal of humor, as
established in the opening scene when Honeyman is eager to get down to brass
tacks and, in response, Botvinnik suggests that they talk about…nothing…trivia…anything
but the topics that are on the table back in Geneva. Over the course of the
play, the two men, believably brought to full life by Leo and Long, find a tentative
common ground where the cynicism of age and the idealism of youth can coexist,
and, in the process, may just also find a way to “prevent the total destruction
of every living thing on this planet.”
“A Walk in the Woods” runs through
Nov. 22. For tickets or more information call 203-375-8778 or go to
www.squareonetheatre.com
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