Theater Review by Adam Cohen . . . .Another View . . .
Diane Wiest returns to the stage in Vineyard Theatre’s production of John J. Caswell’s play Scene Partners.
Set in 1985, the play features Wiest as a woman, Meryl, who celebrates her abusive husband’s death by avoiding his funeral and heading to Hollywood to star in movies. This moment of liberation infuriates her needy, drug-addled daughter Pauline (Kristen Sieh). In Hollywood, Meryl forces her way into an agent’s office and winds up in an acting class.
Here’s where Caswell imaginatively marries possibility and whimsy with fantasy, mental health issues and recovery. His players grapple with the question of whose reality they are in, if any. Caswell himself labeled the play a “joyful Hunter S. Thompson frolic across the country to stardom” in an interview with the New York Times. This is an apt description of what you can expect to experience in Scene Partners.
Some of the themes of the play are visually depicted: Meryl suspended in a chair, half seen by the audience, carrying a suitcase (emotional/mental baggage), which she drops to hopefully speed her descent. Others are rendered with Caswell’s writing and the actor’s specifically arch performances with Wiest specifically dogged, feisty, and wonderful.
By sheer charisma, Meryl—described in the script as “determinably hellbent” manipulates/envisions the acting class participants (Carmen M. Herlihy, Sieh, Eric Berryman) and teacher (Josh Hamilton) with her worldview. Soon they are auditioning to partake in the movie of her life. Add in a voice of reason and reconciliation of the past with Johanna Day as Meryl’s half-sister. Caswell has crafted a truly engaging, enervating piece of theater. The performers are wily, game, and assured, even when the world of the play isn’t certain for the audience. This gifted cast weaves a wild engaging spell.
Director Rachel Chavkin augments Meryl’s story with video of her life, complete with projected dialogue and animation. One is never quite sure of the reality they are experiencing and that’s part of the fun and mystique of the piece. Caswell’s writing is often sardonic and apt. As with Meryl leaving her grieving daughter replies to a slight of her talent with “I will play queens and matriarchs. Lawyers and judges, powerful women with pockets full of Benzedrine pills and deep dark secrets to boot.”
One is never sure if what we are seeing is all a figment of Meryl’s imagination, perhaps due to dementia. Caswell and Chavkin brilliantly skew Meryl’s reality with humor. How else does Meryl end up on a train with a conductor from the Soviet Union and passengers singing Talking Heads songs? Johanna Day’s Charlize grounds reality both for the audience and Meryl—to a point. Day and Wiest generate perfect sisterly frisson and concern. While Hamilton swings for the rafters with a decent Australian accent, Wiest is nicely fierce and poised. Day is warm. Playing multiple roles, Herlihy, Sieh, Berryman and Hamilton form a cohesive, playful, troupe.
Chavkin effectively uses vertical panels moving across the stage to indicate scene changes for Riccardo Hernandez’ set. They also serve as the screen for David Bengali’s videos and projections. The physical production—costumes by Brenda Abbandandolo and lights by Alan C. Edwards—are top notch. Together with the actors, they wield an aptly unassured spell over the audience. For Meryl, all the world’s a stage, we are merely players.
Scene Partners. Through December 17 at the Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street, between Union Square East and Irving Place). www.vineyardtheatre.org
Photos: Carol Rosegg
