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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Sight Unseen Also see Richard's review of Jerry Springer The Opera
And (sometimes) the only way to fix all the heartbreak it caused, in years gone by, is to dig up the past and take a new look. If you've ever carried the pain of heartbreak for some ridiculously long period of time, key scenes here will grab you by the throat. The other "establishing" scenes, where plot is hammered out, are made quietly astonishing by a great foursome of actors themselves, under the direction of Bobby Miller. There is a rough beauty all the way through Sight Unseen (rough, emotionally): the story of an artist and his muse, reunited after 15 years. Breathtakingly awkward scenes are played out (mostly) in a rough English countryside home, existing side-by-side with flashbacks, and those generally have a "tumbling into a crevasse" sensation to them—especially when the young lovers have a very torrid break-up. So you can keep your elliptical Pinters, and your taunting Mamets. This 1991 play by David Margulies has much of the same quiet anguish, but seems a lot less calculated and a good deal more real—and more human—than either of them. In 1992, Sight Unseen won an Obie award and was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well. Aaron Orion Baker is Jonathan, an uneasy success story (as a world-famous painter) and, in flashbacks, a delightfully callow young man. Emily Baker (Aaron's real-life wife) is great as Patricia, the girl Jonathan jettisoned back in the 1970s, overwhelmed by a reunion 15 years later. She's gone on to life with archeologist Nick (David Wassilak), who buries his own jealousy hilariously, under a layer of English wit. Meanwhile, Patricia is haunted by all the wear and tear she's endured. Most people will relate to Patricia's pinwheels of mental pain, and her husband's jealousy. And everyone will appreciate Nick's ample supply of terribly arch humor. Later, though, a painful confession of his will yield stark views of the human soul. And that may be what this whole show is about: a sort of aerial tour of the great emotional erosions of life, and the awful gouges inside, like a dizzying fly-over of the Grand Canyon. We also get truly bizarre laughs from Em Piro as a German feature-writer, in a flashback to the 1980s: glammed-out and probing ferociously to determine whether or not the artist himself is some kind of sham. The same probing goes on throughout Sight Unseen on a romantic level, as each character tests the others. But don't just imagine it as a sort of stress test of the heart—it also works as a spectacular tour of a deep emotional cataclysm. The artist himself remains a mystery—is he a calculating fraud, or does his work produce something new through strange juxtapositions? It's open to interpretation, but Mr. Baker's scenes with Ms. Piro as the German reporter (full of twists and turns and blithely thrown verbal grenades) seem to suggest the great man may not even know himself. And that means anyone who falls into his orbit pays a high price in doubt and worry. A resonant, passionate success—though perhaps not an ideal show for everyone in the senior audience they usually get at the NJT. Nevertheless, it's enthralling in scope and depth: sprinkled with great English humor; and drenched in a deep Gothic shadow of wronged love, thanks to a great director and cast. Through March 29, 2015, at the Jewish Community Center, #2 Millstone Campus Drive (just west of Lindbergh, between Olive and Page). For more information visit www.newjewishtheatre.org Cast Production Staff * Denotes Member, Actors Equity Association Photo by Eric Woolsey
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