REVIEWS
FEATURES
ADDRESS BOOKS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
DC
NEWS (Etcetera)
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
DC (Washington)
London
Los Angeles
QUOTES
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Type too small?
DC Weather
A CurtainUp
DC
Review
Blue Heart: "Heart's Desire" and "Blue Kettle"
by Susan Davidson
Prior to seeing Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart, currently playing at Studio Theatre, a little background could be useful. Never one to go for the conventional, Churchill's agenda is, at times, obtuse; at times, subjective; at times, obvious. In Blue Heart it is all three. Churchill's best known plays -- Cloud Nine, Top Girls and Mad Forest -- are political, scathing feminist screeds. Not Blue Heart. Its themes are time, fractured relationships and communication, or rather the lack of it.The first one-acter -- the two are not related except they both raise more questions than they answer -- is called "Heart's Desire". Alice (Catherine Flye) and Brian (Michael Tolaydo), a very stolid, middle class couple, along with a contemporary woman who is (maybe) a relative, await the return from Australia of their only daughter. This is, says Brian, an occasion that will occur only once. Yes, the daughter could return from Australia, her new home, several times but this is the FIRST time she is returning home, after emigrating.
The beginning of the play is repeated and repeated and repeated. Is this a symbol of the routines of our lives? How do we react to the unexpected in the face of concentrating on what we anticipate will happen? Time, Churchill, reminds us, is taken up by doing the same thing over and over again, such as setting the table for a meal. Time ends with death. Brian mentions spontaneity and its role in confusing or confounding the best laid plans or expectations. Both author and director test their audience, requiring a capacity for philosophical thoughts about concepts to do with time and at least a tolerance for whimsy. The surprises in this script have been handled with style and humor by director Serge Seiden and I would not want to give them away here. Suffice it to say the The Children and an anthropomorphic creature nearly stole the show. Some at the matinee I attended coped ably with the absurdities; others were left scratching their heads or worse, sighing with impatience.
"Blue Kettle", the second half of Blue Heart, is less appealing than "Heart's Desire", possibly because of its subject matter and possibly because of the audience's skepticism after Act One. By this time, most audience members will have cottoned on the fact that both halves of Blue Heart are a game, a theatre game. The story of "Blue Kettle" is, ostensibly the story of a forty-year old man looking for the mother who gave him up for adoption when he was days old. Except it's a con. The character cons his mothers (there are five in toto) and Churchill cons her audience. Jon Tindle gives a very restrained performance in this half which only goes to show his range, since in "Heart's Desire" he plays the drunken son, amusingly and with sensitivity. Michael Tolaydo as Brian, the father, in "Heart's Desire", and the clueless, nouveau riche Mr. Vane (no trouble deciphering the code in this name) is excellent. But kudos belong most of all to Catherine Flye for her Alice and Mrs. Oliver, which are very fine characterizations. Alice must be a difficult part to play even for such an accomplished actress as Ms. Flye but she more than rises to the challenge with timing, physicality, and diction that are flawless.
Director Serge Seiden is doing his best work here -- his light but firm touch brings out the script's themes well. Daniel Conway's sets are appropriate. Anne Kennedy's costumes are suitable and, in one particular case, quite inventive. Michael Giannitti's lighting is fine; ditto Tony Angelini's sound whose suggestive use of familiar English tunes, such as "Greensleeves" and other chestnuts of English theater, adds to the comfy feeling the audience is lured into before realizing it has been set up. All in all a very well done show.
| BLUE HEART
By Caryl Churchill Directed by Serge Seiden Act One: "Heart's Desire" With Catherine Flye, Cornelia Hart, Michael Tolaydo, Jonathan Tindle, Michelle Shupe, Kate Debelack, David Muse, Olivia Bonin, Cameron Burger, Rachel Burger, William Talmage Gallagher, Cynthia Gutierrez, Ben Hamburger, Caroline Hecht, David Hirsh, and Maysa Jawdat Act Two: "Blue Kettle" With Jonathan Tindle, Cornelia Hart, Catherine Flye, Michelle Shupe, Nancy Paris, Lee Holzapfel, Michael Tolaydo, and Rusty Clauss Set Design: Daniel Conway Costume Design: Anne Kennedy Lighting Design: Michael Giannitti Sound Design: Tony Angelini Running Time: two hours Studio Theatre, 1333 P Street, NW (202) 332-3300 Studio Theatre's website: http://www.studiotheatre.org Opened November 3, 1999. Closes December 5, 1999 Reviewed by Susan Davidson 11/14/99, based on 11/13/99 matinee performance. |