At what point does a thirty-something person realize that his/her life has not quite turned out as planned? Is it the birth of a first child? The early death of a spouse? An unexpected—but not necessarily unwelcome—sexual encounter with a best friend’s husband (and the subsequent secrecy that attends it)? And at what point must a person take responsibility for his/her life’s direction, for good or for ill?
Melissa James Gibson addresses these issues in her bittersweet comedy,
This, now receiving its New Jersey première at Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre in South Orange. In 2009,
The New York Times called
This “the best new play to open Off-Broadway,” and Dreamcatcher’s production does justice to the play’s clever word play and dialogue that rings true as it illuminates the human condition.
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Laura Ekstrand, Nicole Callender,
Christopher Miller, Scott McGowan
Harry Patrick Christian at a dinner party. |
This revolves around four people, friends since college, who find themselves at a crossroads in their lives and their relationships. Jane is a recent widow who has kept her husband Roy’s ashes on top of her refrigerator a year after his too-early death; Alan is a gay man whose only talent is the ability to remember exactly what happened in the past but who feels his “dinky” life hasn’t amounted to much. Tom and Marrell, new parents to a baby who sleeps no more than 15 minutes at a clip, are given to arguing (in public, no less) over when to change the Britta water filter and who should do it. A fifth character, Jean-Pierre, a French physician who works for Doctors Without Borders, has been brought into the group by Tom and Marrell as a possible suitor for Jane.
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| Laura Ekstrand as Jane |
Because
This concerns the stories we tell ourselves and each other to justify our choices and actions, it is fitting that the play begin with a parlor game that Tom, Marrell and Alan urge Jane to play with them. “Jane hates games,” Alan announces (which Jane echoes several times to no avail), but she reluctantly agrees to play—perhaps so she won’t be considered a wet blanket by the handsome French doctor. The game involves her asking yes/no/maybe questions she asks and the others answer, to discover the story the other four have concocted while she’s been out of the room. Ironically, the story she comes up with mimics what will become her own: a 38-year-old widow becomes involved with her friend’s husband. When that does indeed happen, Jane, Marrell and Tom must deal with the fallout, which will affect their friendship forever.
Gibson has written dialogue that sparkles with word play, and director David Christopher has assembled four actors able to deliver it in a convincing and natural manner. Not to disparage the performance of Christopher T. Miller, who plays Jean-Pierre, but his character is a stranger to the group and since he is not supposed to be a native American speaker, he is often an onlooker (at one point he even sleeps through a bit of tart repartée) without much to do. Miller does a fine job with the part as written for him.
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Nicole Callender as Marrell
sings in a jazz club. |
As Tom, Scott McGowan beautifully portrays a man who finds his woodworking career going nowhere (witness his mindless sanding of a white maple plank he’s brought home to use, sometime), his marital life upended by the arrival of a son—in short, a feeling that his life is “over.” That he lusts after his wife’s best friend doesn’t make the character very sympathetic, but McGowan makes us care about this man bewildered by what he wants out of life. Nicole Callender is his acerbic wife, Marrell, a jazz singer/songwriter, whose life has similarly been changed by the baby; the opening scene marks the couple’s first dinner party since the birth, and she spends a lot of time shushing everyone and worrying whether and when the lil’ insomniac will wake up. Harry Patrick Christian plays their gay friend Alan with a palpable pessimism, a feeling that his life hasn’t amounted to much (other than television appearances as a mnemonomist—a person who has (real) extraordinary powers to accurately remember the past. It’s a novelty, perhaps, but doesn’t contribute much to improving the quality of life of others (as does Dr. Jean-Pierre). Without devolving into caricature, Christian delightfully deliver’s Alan’s witty dialogue; he’s especially droll rolling his r’s when he pronounces the doctor’s name!
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Laura Ekstrand (Jane) and Harry
Patrick Christian (Alan) argue about
the use of language. |
And as Jane, the character at the center of the group, Laura Ekstrand provides a nuanced, moving performance, poignantly depicting Jane’s pain at losing her husband, at holding a “nothing” job as a standardized test proctor/poetry teacher, at having to keep a terrible secret from her friends, a secret that eats her up inside. Ekstrand is a joy to behold, particularly in a hilarious and very clever exchange with Alan as to whether she, a non-Jew, has the right to use the word “schvitz” to describe perspiring! That conversation alone is worth the price of a ticket!
The expression, “I’m sorry,” is used very often by various characters through the course of
This. Does it express pity? Does it indicate regret? Is it an apology? If so, for what? You’ll have to decide after you see
This. But you will be sorry if you don’t get to Dreamcatcher Rep by November 14 to see an excellent performance of a terrific play!
This will be performed
Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM through November 14 at The Baird Theatre, 5 Mead Street in South Orange. For information and tickets, call 973.378.7754, ext. 2228, or save $5.00 by ordering online at
www.dreamcatcherrep.org.
