Search Curtainup
SITE GUIDE
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
The Velocity of Autumn
|
"
Nothing! We hear nothing for twenty years, you can't even be bothered to
come back for your own father's funeral, but now, now we've finally come
up with a crisis worthy of the great Christopher, so you can finally swoop in
here and do something your brother and sister can't! Finally we'll see how
great and truly worthy you are! All hail, Mighty Christopher!".—Alexandra
|
Estelle Parsons with Stephen Spinella in rear)
|
The old tree, among the few we are told that remain in the neighborhood, rises majestically well above and beyond the frame of designer Eugene Lee's wonderfully cluttered interior setting signifying a kind of embracing protection. But as we can see by the ready-to-detonate explosives, the ailing Alexandra, as played by eighty-five year old Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons, isn't relying on the tree for protection.
Alexandra is quite an unusual character, someone who will be recognizable to many for her courageously independent nature. What sets her apart in this hyper-emotional drama is that she has little rapport or affection for her three children.
As an artist who is no longer able to hold her brushes, Alexandre is, nevertheless, well-equipped, to stave off all interference from two of them (unseen). With an artist's flair for fashion given the pretty print floral dress she is wearing, her flair for being in charge of her own life extends to a drastic plan to survive their meddling. Getting her out and into assisted living may be their primary mission, but hers certainly is keeping them at bay at any cost as she holds the option to blow the place up if need be. Like Garbo, she wants to be left alone. Not likely under the circumstances.
Ironically it is the tree that serves as the conduit by which her estranged son Chris (Stephen Spinella) makes his way into her home via the sturdiest branches, and getting one of the few laughs for its execution in this otherwise sad and poignant play by Eric Cobble about old age and the relinquishing of one's independence. Like Alexandra, Chris is also an artist who decided fifteen years ago to break all ties to his family and move to New Mexico after his father had rejected him for being gay. With his long gray hair pulled back in a pony tail and in western couture, he has been summoned home by his siblings to persuade Alexandra to remove the barricades, locks and the furniture that has been pushed against the doors.
The soft-spoken Chris finds that his mother is a more formidable and defiant foe than he could ever have imagined. She screams at him, "Why did they send you. . .the ones who want me out, after 45 years here, who want to lock me up and shove tubes in me and chain me to a bed." With Parson's signature raspy voice in strident full throttle and Spinella's often barely audible declarations and defenses in mostly full retreat, the play uses its ninety minutes giving Alexandra a determinedly unconquerable voice that makes no concession to her having to be nice or even compassionate or compliant to either to Chris or to the wishes of her other children.
Just as Alexandra's actions, accusations, and outbursts of rage gradually ebb and subside for a while in the wake of Chris's revelations about being gay and as an unloved member of the family, they both begin to realize they share a bond —i being artists, loving art, disliking the family members who have decided to take charge. Interrupted by hostile phone calls from his siblings, Chris tries valiantly to breach the distrust that is evident in his mother's mostly heart-wrenching, ear-piercing tirades. A line delivered by Alexandra: "Your being gay was not a deal-breaker for your father, it just made him feel uncomfortable, like Gorgonzola cheese," is more cheesy than funny.
Despite a rather lame and disaffecting ending, the play gives the formidable Parsons ample room to switch emotional gears and sway our affections without missing a beat, even as we can also sense the stirrings of her character's impending dementia. Frail and feisty, Alexandra gives voice to many of the fears we face with aging into sharp relief.
I wish director Molly Smith, who also directed The Velocity of Autumn at its premiere at D.C. Arena Stage, would have insisted that the usually fine and sensitive actor Spinella speak up so that more of his often inaudible and presumably illuminating speechifying could be more readily heard.
What can be heard loud and clear is Coble's soul-searching message: the dilemma all families face in choosing to respect the wishes of the elderly — and also what it really means to be lovingly and responsibly responsive.
|
The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Cable Directed by Molly Smith Scenic design by Eugene Lee Costume design by Linda Cho Lighting design by Rui Rita Sound design by Darron L. West Wig design by Paul Huntley Stage Manager: Running Time: 90 minutes, no Intermission Booth Theatre 212/239-6200 From 4/01/14; opening 4/21/14. Closing 8/17/14 Reviewed by Simon Saltzman at April 14th press preview |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
|
Book of Mormon -CD