The Prospect Theater Project certainly picked a winner to kick off its ninth season. Three Tall 
Women is Edward Albee’s third play to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Albee turns eighty this year and theaters across the country are producing his plays as an act of well deserved homage. Women may be the best play that Albee has written. It balances his trademark ambiguity (dialogue and scenes that seem almost realistic but veer slightly off kilter, into a reality that has sharp and painful edges) with a heartbreaking poetry composed 99% of the ordinary language we all use every day. Three women sit in a bedsitting room: a well-off elderly woman, 90, 91, or 92 depending on who’s counting, drifts in and out of reality, falls back on the past in repetitive coda, is never very nice and is occasionally outright nasty in the way she treats her companions; a fiftyish caregiver, her sympathy for her charge worn down by the old woman’s complaints and pettiness; a twentyish lawyer, sent to persuade the old lady to cash her checks and pay her bills, and repulsed by her constant tirades and close-minded bigotry. The old woman dominates their conversation. It falls back again and again into monologue, the old lady reliving her past. Watching her behavior, seeing her drift in and out dementia is a wrenching experience, especially for a viewer like me who’s already several steps along life’s path. I won’t tell you what happens later in the play but the second act completely transforms the revelations made in the first act and brings the play to a sad but richly lyrical close.
Fine writing is one reason to see this play. Exceptional acting is another. Grace Lieberman is absolutely perfect as the old woman. She neither overacts nor underacts in an exceedingly difficult role – as an actor myself, I know just how difficult it is to strike that balance, especially when so much depends on you in the play. How she can make us care for such a despicable character amazes me. But she does. She strikes a chord in all of us. The details may vary but we too some day will have to face the end her character does. Our strength will go, our influence diminish, our grasp on reality won’t be as strong. Lieberman’s character captures our sympathy, not for her personal qualities –she’s an awful person-- but for the common fate we share with her. Of the other two actors with speaking roles, Jennifer York, as the caregiver, delivers a strong performance in a challenging role. Though no newcomer to the theater, this is her first performance in the Central Valley; it shouldn’t be her last. Although occasionally awkward in her use of her body, Angela Ruby performs creditably as the young lawyer and deserves praise as well. Jay Sprague, who plays the old lady’s son, is on stage briefly and has no lines. All I can say of him is that he fits the part.
Everything in this play works. For the second year in a row, Colton Dennis has directed a standout play with an exceptional cast. The stage set, designed and constructed by Brian Swander, is neither too much nor too little. This is not a play where heavy demands are placed on other technical services: the lighting, designed by Jon Duran, does its job and doesn’t intrude; Kristi Mayfield’s costumes are appropriate; Vance Whitaker, who is responsible for props and special effects, has one surprise in store for the viewer.
Anyone who enjoys theater should see this play and this production. Women is one of the best productions I’ve seen at this intimate, edgy theater. Don’t miss it!
Prospect Theater Project
520 Scenic Drive
Modesto CA 95352
(209) 549-9341
http://www.prospecttheaterproject.org/
Women is Edward Albee’s third play to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Albee turns eighty this year and theaters across the country are producing his plays as an act of well deserved homage. Women may be the best play that Albee has written. It balances his trademark ambiguity (dialogue and scenes that seem almost realistic but veer slightly off kilter, into a reality that has sharp and painful edges) with a heartbreaking poetry composed 99% of the ordinary language we all use every day. Three women sit in a bedsitting room: a well-off elderly woman, 90, 91, or 92 depending on who’s counting, drifts in and out of reality, falls back on the past in repetitive coda, is never very nice and is occasionally outright nasty in the way she treats her companions; a fiftyish caregiver, her sympathy for her charge worn down by the old woman’s complaints and pettiness; a twentyish lawyer, sent to persuade the old lady to cash her checks and pay her bills, and repulsed by her constant tirades and close-minded bigotry. The old woman dominates their conversation. It falls back again and again into monologue, the old lady reliving her past. Watching her behavior, seeing her drift in and out dementia is a wrenching experience, especially for a viewer like me who’s already several steps along life’s path. I won’t tell you what happens later in the play but the second act completely transforms the revelations made in the first act and brings the play to a sad but richly lyrical close.Fine writing is one reason to see this play. Exceptional acting is another. Grace Lieberman is absolutely perfect as the old woman. She neither overacts nor underacts in an exceedingly difficult role – as an actor myself, I know just how difficult it is to strike that balance, especially when so much depends on you in the play. How she can make us care for such a despicable character amazes me. But she does. She strikes a chord in all of us. The details may vary but we too some day will have to face the end her character does. Our strength will go, our influence diminish, our grasp on reality won’t be as strong. Lieberman’s character captures our sympathy, not for her personal qualities –she’s an awful person-- but for the common fate we share with her. Of the other two actors with speaking roles, Jennifer York, as the caregiver, delivers a strong performance in a challenging role. Though no newcomer to the theater, this is her first performance in the Central Valley; it shouldn’t be her last. Although occasionally awkward in her use of her body, Angela Ruby performs creditably as the young lawyer and deserves praise as well. Jay Sprague, who plays the old lady’s son, is on stage briefly and has no lines. All I can say of him is that he fits the part.
Everything in this play works. For the second year in a row, Colton Dennis has directed a standout play with an exceptional cast. The stage set, designed and constructed by Brian Swander, is neither too much nor too little. This is not a play where heavy demands are placed on other technical services: the lighting, designed by Jon Duran, does its job and doesn’t intrude; Kristi Mayfield’s costumes are appropriate; Vance Whitaker, who is responsible for props and special effects, has one surprise in store for the viewer.
Anyone who enjoys theater should see this play and this production. Women is one of the best productions I’ve seen at this intimate, edgy theater. Don’t miss it!
Prospect Theater Project
520 Scenic Drive
Modesto CA 95352
(209) 549-9341
http://www.prospecttheaterproject.org/
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