Theater Review - From the
front row
Well
Park Square Theater; Seen
Feb. 2nd
This show has completed its run
by Raymond Luczak
Editor’s note: Access
Press is pleased to welcome author and playwright Raymond Luczak
as our new theater reviewer. Mr. Luczak www.raymondluczak.com will
be reviewing an ASL-interpreted play each month under the heading “From
the front row.” Reviews will be posted first to access press.org,
and printed the following month. Coming next: Peer Gynt (reviewed
Feb 17th)
On the surface, Lisa M. Kron’s
Well sounds fairly straightforward and humorous: A playwright incidentally
named Lisa Kron tries to write a play about how she recovered from
her allergies while her allergy-laden mother constantly interrupts
from her La-Z-Boy with corrections. But the execution—and the
journey that the audience takes—is much
more complex and ultimately satisfying. Impeccably directed by Michael Bigelow
Dixon, the cast is able to anchor a script that could’ve been confusing
for those with little exposure to experimental and nontraditional theater.
Throughout the show the focus explores the mother-daughter—and indirectly,
playwright-muse—relationship between Lisa and her mother Ann. There are
plenty of chuckles and some outright laughs sprinkled throughout. The set,
designed by Kate Sutton-Johnson, is distinctive, conveying Ann’s world
with its comfortable evocations of home and contrasting it with the abstract
gray boxes and wide stripes on the floor for Lisa’s state of mind.
In a part that a younger
Diane Keaton might have made predictable with her tics and mannerisms,
Christina Baldwin imbues her character Lisa instead with a more
realistic rendition of someone who thinks she knows what she wants,
and yet her emotional intents are clear as day. She is totally
likeable, but I think we eventually share her mother’s exasperation with Lisa’s need to “explain.” The
whole show plays havoc with the very concept of “show and tell,” which
is ironic, given how the other cast members—four performers
who portray a wide variety of characters from Lisa’s childhood—do
often show what Lisa tells, or tries to explain. Sometimes Lisa participates
in their re-enactments; sometimes not.
I found two particular elements of great interest to the disability
community.
While examining how
her parents felt it important to push for racial integration with
African-American neighbors and classmates, it is fascinating to
see the characters grapple with what it means to be part of the
community. Many people within the disability community do not feel
accepted by those who are able-bodied or those who consider themselves “normal” (whatever that means), so in this
context, it’s always illuminating to observe and learn from
other minorities seeking acceptance, and yes, assimilation. For instance,
when Lisa as a younger child tries to emulate her African-American
friends and their mannerisms, it’s quite funny. How many of
us in the disability community have tried to imitate others in hopes
of being accepted, even though it’s already painfully clear
that being disabled is so not cool?
Lisa also explores how
other people she’d met while growing
up interact with their doctors and how they view themselves through
the restrictive lens of what is wrong with them, as opposed to what
is good with them (sound familiar, anyone?). At the “allergy
hospital,” Lisa meets Joy, a very depressed person obsessed
with the state of her own physical health, who is played with great
aplomb by Heidi Bakke. It is through their interactions that she
begins to see how some people need to feel unwell, and how she had
to stop seeing the world through her mother’s eyes. As Ann
Kron, Barbara June Patterson gives her character a feisty demeanor.
That a performer “past a certain age” is even up there
points out the unfortunate dearth of complex and engaging parts for
older performers who are so rarely seen aside from second-tier parts
(grandmother and the like) in contemporary theater.
The ASL interpreters
Susan Masters and Stephen Medlicott prove themselves capable of
making a “messy” play clear to us Deaf audience
members, especially with its plethora of characters. Their translation
was very good. The playbill warned that strobe lighting would be
used in the production, but that is only to convey a photographic
flashbulb going off. The sign for the wheelchair-accessible restrooms
in the lobby was clearly easy to see; these restrooms seemed quite
a ways from the lobby itself, however.
That this unconventional
play has done so well on Broadway is a testimony to its universal
humanity and its empathetic humor. If you’ve ever been exasperated by your own mother—and who
hasn’t?—this play is for you. ![]()
Park Square Theater is located
at: 20 W. 7th Place, St. Paul.
