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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. This
The story concerns five people, four of whom have known each other for decades, and examines the complicated way they interact. To add to the irony, while they have trouble talking honestly to each other, three are wordsmiths by profession: Jane (Lise Bruneau), a poet; Marrell (Felicia Curry), a songwriter and singer; and Alan (Michael Glenn), an entertainer who can recount verbatim conversations long after they have occurred. This trait, along with a word-based game the characters play in the first scene, becomes integrally important to the structure of the piece. Jane's husband died a year earlier, so she's trying to hold herself together and take care of her (unseen) 8-year-old daughter. Marrell and her husband Tom (Todd Scofield), a cabinetmaker, are feeling the stress of being new parents. Alan is professionally successful, but distant and isolated from his friends. And the appearance of Jean-Pierre (Will Gartshore), a Frenchman who does humanitarian work in Africa for Doctors Without Borders, causes the others to re-evaluate their life choices. Director Ryan Rilette ably balances the performers against each other as they navigate the crooked, intersecting paths toward "middle age"—although, as one of the almost-40 characters says, these days true middle age begins at 60. Bruneau is moving as a woman facing a future she never could have foreseen, while the others all have their moments. Curry gets to shine as she performs two songs by Eric Shimelonis. James Kronzer has designed another breathtaking set on two concentric turntables. His vision illuminates the theme of the play: what begins as an impenetrable urban façade reveals one scene after another like a series of snapshots coming into focus. Round House Theatre
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