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Regional Reviews: Florida - Southern The Loman Family Picnic
It is likely that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies would be surprised at being compared to Tolstoy in any way, but not surprised to be tied to playwright Arthur Miller. For Margulies admits to being strongly influenced by Arthur Miller, and that The Loman Family Picnic, originally produced in 1989, is an unpredictable tribute to Miller's Death Of A Salesman. The family's youngest son, Mitchell Loman, is modeled after Margulies as a child. Both Mitchell and Margulies regrettably see their families as nearly identical to the Willy Loman's family in Death Of A Salesman. To drive a wedge between those images, Mitchell creates a fanciful family picnic in his head. And not just any family outing, but a mini-musical! Margulies' characters are colorful, well written, and well performed. The Loman Family Picnic is, on the surface, the story of the upcoming Bar Mitzvah of a couple's oldest boy, Stewie. The narrative delivery by the mother works well for the show, but it becomes awkward to have more than one narrator when younger son Mitchell takes a turn as well. I found the addition of the character of the deceased Aunt Marsha interesting, and charmingly done by actress Rachel Jones. She acts as an emancipating voice of the wife's dissipating youth and her fear of a complacently dull life ahead. The mini-musical of Mitchell's imagination is a cumbersome stumbling block in this show. Its trite rhymes, indistinct melodies, and hammy vaudeville staging may be explainable as the product of the 11-year-old character's mind. However, that only works as a comic bit for about 30 seconds. As Mitchell, actor Aaron Simon Gross has an unusually beautiful voice and real vocal musicianship. The rest of the cast are painful to listen to and watch during this section, and I couldn't wait for it to end. The adults actually look a tad apologetic as they are performing. Thankfully, once that is over, the show is back on course. After an emotional confrontation with wife and children, over the expense of the Bar Mitzvah celebration, the husband goes out to cool off. Upon his return, the audience is given four possible endings to the story; each one is played out and rewound. We all have those moments in our life that could turn out so differently depending on how they are played out. How many of us have, like Margulies, have played them out in our heads? So, regardless of which of Margulies' multiple endings you choose to believe, they all work because they all are true to heart at some level. The 1965 10th floor high-rise set is great for this piece. The decor, clothes, hair, and music all have the right feel. (I swear I have pictures from the '60s of my own mother wearing some of the same clothes.) Lisa Bansavage is a hoot as Doris, and Buzz Bovshow really shines as husband Herbie in the confrontation scene. The two older actors and the two young actors also have decent chemistry and timing together. If you can tolerate the musical section of the play, this is an enjoyable show with characters that speak to us. Production dates of The Loman Family Picnic at the Caldwell Theatre Company are April 10th - May 22nd, 2005. For tickets to this and other shows, you may contact the Caldwell at 561-241-7432 or on line at: www.caldwelltheatre.com. The Caldwell Theatre Company is a professional theatre company hiring local and non-local Equity and non-Equity actors. They are located at 7873 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33487-1640 in the Levitz Plaza. Look for the theatres' proposed relocation to their new space in the fall of 2006. Cast Crew * Designates member of Actor's equity Association
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