By Ruth Ross
Baby boomers (like me) worry when they cannot remember a word or a name, but watching someone slide into dementia is painful and heartrending, especially when that person is a 52-year-old research scientist who has discovered a drug that can treat the disorder.
That is the premise of Sharr White's 2012 Tony Award-nominated drama, The Other Place. Dreamcatcher Rep has chosen this play to inaugurate their 19th season and, true to their mission of sharing life-affirming stories in an intimate environment, have mounted a production worthy of the Broadway stage.
The "other place" of the title is Juliana's family home on Cape Cod where she has spent most summers of her life, but it also refers to the other place where Juliana goes when she retreats into her memories of life before her teenage daughter Laurel ran away from home, supposedly with Richard, Juliana's post doc student, never to be heard from again. At first, she thinks her wild mood swings and odd behavior are caused by brain cancer; after all, many people in her family had the disease. But tests reveal elevated glucose levels in the hippocampus, meaning that Juliana suffers from early-onset dementia, precisely the condition that the drug she has discovered, Identamyl, can be used to treat.
Clark Carmichael's solid direction keeps the dramatic intensity ratcheted up as the plot marches on to its inexorable dénouement. Harriett Trangucci's scarily intense portrayal of Juliana takes the audience's sympathy for the character on a roller coaster ride. At times, her sharp-toned antagonism exasperates us; at other times, her confusion breaks our hearts. The character's transformation from prickly beginning to pathetic end is nothing short of astonishing. As her husband Ian, Harry Patrick Christian (left) is almost at the end of his rope as he tries to ground Juliana in reality and make her face her decline. He is the main target of his wife's rages, especially when he contradicts her assertions that she has spoken to Laurel on the telephone, and he is so wounded by the situation that at one point he just sinks to his knees and cries. That Trangucci and Christian are part of a true ensemble of actors makes their relationship very convincing, an important fact given that they (or Juliana, really) are the two characters around whom the action swirls.
Jessica O'Hara-Baker plays multiple roles, from officious physician to rebellious daughter to the unnamed current owner of The Other Place who is startled to find Juliana in the house one morning, uninvited and unknown. As the latter, O'Hara-Baker is annoyed at first, but her humanity takes over, and she treats Juliana tenderly, like the child she has become. Dave Maulbeck does a fine job in the small role of Laurel's husband/ Juliana's former colleague Richard Silmer.
Zach Pizza's lighting helps the audience switch its attention through what could be disorienting scene changes. Laura Ekstrand's costumes are appropriate to the characters.
Dementia is "the loss of mental functions such as thinking, memory, and reasoning that is severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functioning." One cause can be a nutritional deficiency, like protein or vitamins, precisely the condition that could be mitigated by a drug such as the fictional Identamyl.
Sharr White's play focuses attention on a condition worthy of our notice and full-out research studies to find, if not a cure, then a treatment. And the folks at Dreamcatcher Rep have given us a production that will certainly inform us, educate us and make us care about those who suffer from it—and those who care for them.
The Other Place will be performed at the Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, through October 20, with a talkback following the October 13 matinee. For information and tickets, call the box office at 908.514.9654 or visit online at www.dreamcatcherrep.org.
Photos by Steven McIntyre.
