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A CurtainUp DC Review
The Velocity of Autumn
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"I have no future." —Alexandra to her son Chris
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Estelle Parsons as Alexandra
(Photo by Teresa Wood) |
To protect herself from intruders Alexandra has barricaded all doors to her home and surrounded the interior perimeter with jars filled with flammable fluid. She is threatening to blow the place up with her late husband's zippo lighter. The part is made for Estelle Parsons who is as funny as she is serious, as annoying as she is tender.
Nobody messes with Estelle Parsons's little old ladies. In some ways she is reprising her role in Tracy Letts's August: Osage County, which is a better play.
Enter Chris, via the picture window that looks out on Alexandra's favorite tree, the one she nurtured and saved from the city's landscaping crew. Chris is a willowy, sensitive and artistic soul, who left the family two decades ago. Now, he's back, at the request of his sister he gets along with and the brother with whom he has plenty of sibling rivalry. After much discussion, Chris and Alexandra bond again over happy memories from Chris's childhood such as trips to the Guggenheim, but especially their mutual regard for art and beauty and contempt for Chris's siblings.
As Chris, Stephen Spinella gives a very laconic performance, so understated in parts that I had a hard time hearing him over the sounds of digestive juices at work in the man sitting behind me. As the play progresses Chris shows tenderness as does his mother. Their rapprochement is touching. Molly Smith's direction, which avoids maudlin and melodramatic effects, brings out the sensitivities the script calls for.
Even at only an hour and a half the play could do with some judicious pruning. Playwright Eric Coble has a good ear for dialogue but slips from time to time into cliches such as the one about marriage being "for better for worse, but not for lunch."
Set designer Eugene Lee's living room looks very authentic. Here lives an old woman who enjoys being surrounded by her music and her books but has little regard for tidiness and cleanliness. The lighter shade of paint on the walls where pictures used to hang makes you think of a tree that has lost its autumn leaves.
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The Velocity of Autumn By Eric Coble Directed by Molly Smith Sound Design by Darron L. West Cast: Estelle Parsons (Alexandra); Chris (Stephen Spinella). Set Design by Eugene Lee Costume Design by Linda Cho Lighting Design by Rui Rita Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission. Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SW, Washington, DC; www.arenastage.org; 202-488-3300; September 6 to October 20, 2013 Tickets are $40 to $90. Review by Susan Davidson based on September 18, 2013 performance. |
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