|
Review
by Brad Rosenstein for San Francisco Bay Guardian, published
June, 2002
Nuanced 'Square'
By Brad Rosenstein
Simplicity always baffles people, and it's amusing to see the critical
contortions Maria Irene Fornes's plays often provoke. Perhaps the most
respected and least produced of contemporary theatrical innovators,
Fornes writes plays that are as simple and resonant as fables. Her ascetic
style often leaves observers panicking, certain there must be more than
meets the eye, and there is, of course, but it's not a test. One of
Fornes's richest plays, Abingdon Square is set in New York in the early
1900s and tells the story of Marion (Myla Balugay), a 15-year-old orphan
who marries 50-year-old Juster (Christopher Herold) in gratitude but
feels increasingly stifled by him as her sexual and spiritual yearnings
explode.
It's the stuff of romance-novel cliché, but Fornes uses the
familiar situation to sound out a world of subtextual nuance in Marion's
growth to womanhood, paralleled by the period's shifting social roles
for women. The staccato progression of short scenes is a Fornes signature
that also creates the enclosed rhythms of Marion's existence. The cast
is uneven in handling the challenges of the stylized language and its
depths: Balugay has a bell-like voice and an appealing earnestness,
but she doesn't yet possess the acting chops to realize all the dimensions
in Marion. Herold, however, is as usual excellent, exploring Juster
with subtlety and compassion.
What holds it all together is Shana Cooper's thoughtful direction,
which realizes Fornes's precisely calibrated surfaces and the seething
emotions underneath. There are clunky moments, and Cooper doesn't always
find the staging choices to support her vision, but the tone and texture
of this Shotgun Players production are frequently on the money. There's
more to the play than gets expressed here, but this is a highly creditable
rendering of a girl's growth from hothouse adolescence to a more mature
understanding of the nature of love.
'Abingdon Square' runs through July 6. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun.,
7 p.m., Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk. $10-$25.
(510) 704-8210.
-------------------------
Original article on the web at
http://www.sfbg.com/36/39/art_stage_mature.html
|
