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Regional Reviews: New Jersey Going Down with Janice Underwater Glug, Glug, Gl...
But wait! Theresa, Janice's mother, a paranoid schizophrenic, abandoned the family while Janice was still a young girl. The spiraling-downward Janice fears that she is affected with her mother's mental illness. Obsessed with the mother whom she hasn't seen in twenty years, Janice, while both awake and asleep, has imaginary encounters and conversations with her. She is painting a giant portrait of Theresa on her apartment wall, endeavoring to bring her into focus. In the play's opening scene, we find Janice, who is employed as a temp data file clerk, at the office Halloween party. She speaks in a disturbingly inappropriate manner to her supervisor and conjures up a conversation with her mother. The upshot is that Janice is fired by her supervisor. As written and directed (with one actress portraying both of Janice's antagonists), it is not clear whether or not the entire scene is being played in Janice's head. During the several weeks that comprise the balance of the play, Janice remains unemployed, ultimately moving into her brother's New Jersey house. The coup de grace in regard to any potential interest in Janice occurs less than halfway through this 90-minute one-act play. It is the scene in which Janice is interviewing for a job as a magazine illustrator. Author Wolfe is clearly empathetic to her, and paints her interviewer, Robert, as more than a bit snide. However, for me, it is Janice who is inappropriate and discordant. Let's listen in:
My short condensation of this scene may be a little unfair to Robert, who is not entirely negative in his comments, and does solicit a demonstration of more of Janice's talents. However, while he is not making any effort to be Mr. Nice Guy, the man is right. Janice's judgment is woeful, and her interview behavior is pathetically juvenile and self destructive. Among the other people we meet in Janice's life is Paul, the building super of Janice's New York City apartment building. Paul, a veteran who fought in Iraq, has suffered a reduction in mental capacity as a result of a head wound, and psychological trauma (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result of having fatally shot an Iraqi mother who crashed her vehicle through a checkpoint. As a result of his inability to cope with his traumas, Paul has abandoned his wife and children. The others are Michael, Janice's father, a Marine Corps veteran and retired police officer, whose moderate dementia requires caregiving; Jimmy, Janice's concerned police officer brother; and William, both literally and figuratively a dream job interviewer. It is not until the play's final scene that Janice Underwater holds out a bit of hope for Janice in the form of the possibility of a continuing relationship with the damaged Paul. However, as there has been little or no growth or change in Janice throughout, it does not rise organically from the balance of the play. Amy Staats delivers a richly nuanced and detailed performance as Janice. Somehow, there is a vibrancy in her performance that exists above and beyond the text's portrayal of Janice. It has often been written that Meryl Streep could give an interesting performance reading the phone book. I believe that the same can be said for Amy Staats. Eddie Boroevich (Paul), Daren Kelly (Michael) and Ryan Barry (Jimmy) provide the most interesting performances among the solid, professional supporting cast. Director Jade King Carroll has not managed to pierce the cloud of doom and lack of clarity. Tom Matthew Wolfe has imaginatively created fantasy sequences and complex intellectual dialogue for them which shows that he has the insight, ability and desire to write creative, original plays. However, these scenes which depict Janice's dreams and hallucinations contain complex and philosophic thoughts are so beyond everyday Janice and her education that they are unconvincing. There are no insights into the subject of mental illness to justify enduring the doldrums of this play. Wolfe has failed to provide any reason for us to be interested in Janice, and has not given her any spark of life. Thus, Janice Underwater is as unrewarding as it is tedious and lugubrious. Janice Underwater continues performances (Evenings: Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8 pm/ Matinees: Saturday and Sunday 3 pm) through September 21, 2014, at Premiere Stages' Zelda Fry Theatre on the campus of Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, New Jersey, 07083; Box Office: 908-737-7469; online: www.kean.edu/premierestages. Janice Underwater by Tom Matthew Wolfe; directed by Jade King Carroll Cast
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