SEA
A new American Play
by
CATE RYAN
and directed by
MARTIN CHARNIN
The story unfolds quite systemically with Gil (Paul Carlin) and his wife, Joyce (Glynnis O'conor) coming home after church in a rather humorous mood concerning Joyce's "fondness" for the Priest at their local parish. And, according to Gil, she wants to "get with him", teasing her, of course. And in turn, Joyce is just having fun, and being a woman.
Just because one is married doesn't mean one cannot enjoy the "sight" of another "candy" (being man or woman) once in a while...
But this type of "FAMILIARITY" speaks on a deeper level than what's apparent "on the surface". It suggests STRENGTH and deep TRUST. Not only is this couple a "marriage", they are "friends" to each other; although we get the "impression" right away, that Joyce, Gil's wife, is in her own bubble of REALITY, super imposed by an even larger BUBBLE-that of SOCIETY (and its inherent "expectations").
Keeping up the APPEARANCE OF PERFECTION can be "exhausting" (this is an Irish Family, and thank GOD for that alcohol! And in this play, trust me, it was needed!)
I NEEDED A DRINK!!!
The appearance of perfection and order, through RIGHTFUL ACTION(even if it means playing a simulated ROLE), becomes the PURPOSE FOR LIVING among couples which choose to live in an INSULATED REALITY (or commonly referred to as a "bubble").
We get the impression that Gil, past his fifties, is still searching for "something" (not to mention,that even in his late fifties, he is still quite sexually "potent" and in constant "need").
Gil doesn't feel a connection to his wife because she is EVASIVE and ELUSIVE and cannot be PINNED DOWN to an HONEST opinion on anything. An "irritation" which is constantly expressed throughout the production. You feel "empathy' for him; since Joyce has DECIDED to interact with her husband. as well as SOCIETY as a TWO DIMENSIONAL HUMAN BEING.
Unfortunately, we don't get a clear PREMISE from the playwright as to why she is so socially "inept". Growing up in upper class Connecticut does lend some "truth" to the fact that people insulated by wealth lose "proximity" to their lives in quite insidious ways (which, later, creeps up without warning-on the children!).
Gil complaints, banters, and carries on like a child without a lollipop. But then again, Joyce is so passive-aggressive and uses much semantics in her language, that it's impossible to get a straight answer from her,
The heart of Gil's "malcontent" is the feeling of estrangement from a wife who doesn't offer sex to an Irish man in his late sixties who is very much still "virile and capable", sexually. Number one; then, there's the issue of why they didn't have another baby; number two (and what brought that on was that fact that being with his wife, alone, after their son grew up and left the house, didn't offer, apparently, much solace or comfort to carry him towards his twilight years). Number three, of course, not being HEARD or UNDERSTOOD, and his needs going IGNORED.
Fear, seems to be motivating Mr. Osborne to "cling" on to something that may have never been there in the first place (the love is not "felt", but "simulated").
If children was one's INVESTMENT in a marriage, once that "investment" walks out that door, as an adult, and never to return, how does one re-invent one's SELF? The marriage? The "intimacy"?
Wealth is a wonderful thing, and in the 80's, Fairfield County, Connecticut (really beginning from the 40's to the height of the 80's, to be exact) was considered to be one of, if not THE WEALTHIEST county (besides Alpine California, and 50 townships in New Jersey; such as Franklin Lakes, Montville and so on) in all of the United States ("circumstances" have changed, since then).
To be wealthy and live in Connecticut, (especially as a "new wealthy individual") was the cornerstone of SOCIAL SUCCESS (on every level of the social strata). The state did not have an INCOME TAX, or PROPERTY TAX, which allowed the NEW WEALTHY to keep most of their money and assets. This is no longer the case in that state. However, this play SPEAKS TO THAT ERA in which such an antithetical living, especially during the Reagan Years, encouraged living in this IVORY TOWER "existence" in which people were encouraged to live in their own "reality" or "bubble".
Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, until TRAGEDY strikes...
Audrey(Shelly Burch) and Jack's (Paul Carlin) daughter has married Kenny (Adam Petherbridge); the son of the Osbornes. It's Easter Sunday and the Osbornes envited Kenny's wife's parents.
Kenny and his new wife are expecting a baby, but there's a HORRIFYING SECRET which eventually, after plenty of drinks, the secret's out.
Everyone "knows" that there's something horribly and terribly WRONG with the baby...
Or is it a baby....?
This second couple has lost a son of their own before; will the nightmare repeat itself...?
It has been "postulated" by social scientists that those born into wealth or acquire it later, in either case, are not quite "equipped" in handling mundane matters-let alone a crisis (at the magnitude these poor folks are facing)
And yet this is exactly what these two couples are experiencing-a test...
The acting was EXPLOSIVE, DRAMATIC (but not melodramatic). You were kept at the edge of your seat!
Although the INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY was weak in originality and "substance", the director, Martin Charnin, managed to keep us interested and invested in the characters by formulating an ensemble of actors that really "brought it home" through a most POWERFUL PERFORMANCE.
The audience LOVED IT! When the performance was over I went out to dinner with my guest, and we met several audience participants who sat with us and (a total of eight!) discussed the play in depth. We all concluded, that the ACTING, the DIRECTING, and the SET DESIGN, was what made this production (75.00 per ticket!), WORTH the PRICE!
Special thanks to Deborah Brown for casting such a talented group of actors for this performance.
Beowulf Borrit, and Alexis Distler did a FABULOUS job with the SET DESIGN (giving it a real Connecticut, New England "feel". It felt like you were in the town of Darien-nice!).
This PRODUCTION receives 2 1/2 stars...
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