Saturday, 6 October 2007 03:13 pm
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deckardcanineLast night, for my first job at Arena Stage's round Fichandler Theater this season, I ushered Lisa Kron's Well. When I came, the only thing I knew about it was that it had elements of comedy and drama. When I saw the stage, I knew it was unconventional: Most of the floor was covered only by white paper, with "Vom 1" thru "Vom 4" in the corners (I never figured out what that meant), but one of the four stage entryways was loaded with furniture. I took advantage of my presence ahead of opening time to get a closer look. It looked like my grandmother's attic. There was far more detail than the audience could appreciate, such as yearbooks from the late 1940s. The main thing to note was an easy chair in which the actress of Ann Kron spent most of her time.
I had no trouble remembering the playwright's name, because the main actress plays her. The spotlight is partly on her brief experience with illness, partly on her mother Ann's lifelong experience with illness, and partly on Ann's achievement in racially integrating and improving her neighborhood in spite of her inability to get better herself. Lisa has come to disbelieve in allergies and thinks that her mother's unstable condition, most notably her vacillation between high energy and no energy, is psychosomatic. But she emphasizes to the audience that this is not really about her or her mother: They are mere examples, springboards for examining the question of why some people get and stay terribly sick and others don't.
She also reiterates that it's not so much a play as a "theatrical exploration." Indeed, Ann keeps questioning Lisa's skills at organizing the story and bringing the scenes together in narration. Sometimes she drags Lisa into telling unplanned anecdotes, many with an offbeat cultural focus. Regarding the audience as houseguests, Ann tosses bags of potato chips and would give them drinks if allowed. The four other actors (in multiple roles) play themselves from time to time as they all get confused on what should happen next. It's not all the fault of the Krons, either: They get stunned to see Lisa's fourth-grade nemesis rise up from the floor for a laugh. Early on, I'd seen the production as something of a cross between How I Learned to Drive and Pippin, but it's really in a class by itself. The Fourth Wall? Lisa laughs in your general direction(s).
I believe that every unconventional piece of theater I've seen before has had at least one part that doesn't add much for me or simply doesn't work. This time, I can't think what that would be. Well is a funny, poignant, relatable smash throughout. If I had one gripe, it was that the hour and 45 minutes felt too short (Lisa admitted to a great deal of compression). Thing is, I wouldn't know how to lengthen it without overdoing something.
I had no trouble remembering the playwright's name, because the main actress plays her. The spotlight is partly on her brief experience with illness, partly on her mother Ann's lifelong experience with illness, and partly on Ann's achievement in racially integrating and improving her neighborhood in spite of her inability to get better herself. Lisa has come to disbelieve in allergies and thinks that her mother's unstable condition, most notably her vacillation between high energy and no energy, is psychosomatic. But she emphasizes to the audience that this is not really about her or her mother: They are mere examples, springboards for examining the question of why some people get and stay terribly sick and others don't.
She also reiterates that it's not so much a play as a "theatrical exploration." Indeed, Ann keeps questioning Lisa's skills at organizing the story and bringing the scenes together in narration. Sometimes she drags Lisa into telling unplanned anecdotes, many with an offbeat cultural focus. Regarding the audience as houseguests, Ann tosses bags of potato chips and would give them drinks if allowed. The four other actors (in multiple roles) play themselves from time to time as they all get confused on what should happen next. It's not all the fault of the Krons, either: They get stunned to see Lisa's fourth-grade nemesis rise up from the floor for a laugh. Early on, I'd seen the production as something of a cross between How I Learned to Drive and Pippin, but it's really in a class by itself. The Fourth Wall? Lisa laughs in your general direction(s).
I believe that every unconventional piece of theater I've seen before has had at least one part that doesn't add much for me or simply doesn't work. This time, I can't think what that would be. Well is a funny, poignant, relatable smash throughout. If I had one gripe, it was that the hour and 45 minutes felt too short (Lisa admitted to a great deal of compression). Thing is, I wouldn't know how to lengthen it without overdoing something.