Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: St. Louis

Becoming Dr. Ruth
The New Jewish Theater

Also see Richard's reviews of Reality and Eat Your Heart Out


Susie Wall
Of all of the significant social movements of the 1960s and '70s, the sexual revolution must surely rank near the top of anyone's list. Like civil rights and environmental concerns, it's fought over even to this day—in courts and politics and economics; outside of women's clinics and inside your drug store. And, of course, in music and art.

On stage, The Rocky Horror Show blames sexual liberation on space aliens. And a lot of earth-bound politicians and preachers just point the finger at the devil.

But what if a lot of what we now take for granted (in the polite language of whatever we might want in bed and however we might propose to get it) were actually handed down to us by a tiny little old lady who fled from the Nazis from her hometown of Frankfurt, Germany?

The first 55 minutes or so of Becoming Dr. Ruth are straight personal history, so thank goodness for Susie Wall. She's the star of this one-woman show, giving us both the famous Dr. Ruth Westheimer and a lot of very familiar-sounding stories of a Jewish girl, separated from her parents during Hitler's "Final Solution," before she found her way to the U.S.

But Mark St. Germain's 80-minute bio-play doesn't really handle the subject matter in any fresh new way. And it's 2/3rds of the show, right there. Without Ms. Wall, as the adorable pixie of TV talk show fame, those first fifty-five minutes would certainly languish.

Our scene is laid just before moving day, in a New York apartment overlooking the George Washington Bridge. Dr. Ruth is preparing to downsize in her final years. And, of course, the process of packing away all her photos and books offers ample opportunity for talk—and the occasional whimsical reminder that we're in the presence of a pioneer of the sexual revolution.

But somehow, Becoming Dr. Ruth doesn't really "become a play" until around minute 56. Suddenly, she turns her boundless energies toward a perfect little doll's house upstage, and it becomes a metaphor for everything she missed growing up. At that point, the whole audience can breathe a sigh of relief as some actual narrative artistry takes hold. There are other metaphors coming, and Jerry McAdams, a no-nonsense director, helps Ms. Wall develop a number of charming moments. But that "no-nonsense" approach also has its drawbacks.

Please forgive me now, just for a moment, while I pay a visit to the Department of Unfair Comparisons.

Who can forget the awe-struck silences of Julie Harris in another one-woman show, The Belle of Amherst (1976), about the life of poet Emily Dickinson? (You can get it now on DVD, and possibly from your local library too.) And local audiences here may remember the 2011 one-woman show with Stellie Siteman, The Lady With All the Answers (about Ann Landers), with its own rhythm of bemused reflection, also frequently involving the sexual revolution. Miss Dickinson and Miss Landers were really struck by events in their lives. And the more they were struck, the more their respective one-woman shows rang like a bell.

However, in Becoming Dr. Ruth, there are almost no "takes," or reflective moments, and things move along at a steady Teutonic clip. Nothing ever fazes Dr. Ruth, so the play's a bit like crossing Kansas. Ms. Wall is a certifiable local legend, but this part is a bit of a white lab coat for her, a restraint rather than a liberation. Here's to better parts in 2015.

Although, when Ms. Wall got mixed up for a nanosecond during the first Sunday matinee, a slightly bobbled line seemed to become the touching confusion of a grandmother recounting all the multifarious aspects of a life well lived. Leave it in, I say, to add the unguarded human touch. Later, an unexpected encounter lets her blossom further.

The sex talk and humor are often quaint by modern standards—no box of rubbery toys ever comes tumbling out of a closet, that's for sure. And the hinted-at pain and anguish of her callers and questioners, with their very personal problems, barely graze Ruth's calm demeanor, when she has a flashback to her radio show on WYNY.

So what's most interesting here is how this powerhouse of a woman got to such a point of national prominence: reaching out and grabbing one opportunity after another, with insatiable delight. In the process, she did manage to seduce a nation.

Through December 21, 2014, at the Jewish Community Center, on Scheutz Rd., just west of Lindbergh Blvd. (#2 Millstone Campus Drive.) For more information visit www.newjewishtheatre.org

Cast
Dr. Ruth Westheimer: Susie Wall

Production Staff
Director: Jerry McAdams
Stage Manager: Emily Clinger*
Scenic Designer and Artist: Cristie Johnston
Lighting Designer: Kimberly Klearman
Costume Designer: Teresa Doggett
Properties Design: Jenny Smith
Sound and Projection Design: Michael B. Perkins
Master Electrician: Tanner Douglas
Assistant Stage Manager: Laurel Kassenbrock
Board Operator: Ryan Shepard
Wig Design: Will Vicari

* Denotes Member, Actors Equity Association, the professional union of actors and stage managers in the US.

Photo: John Lamb


-- Richard T. Green