SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
The Speed Queen
|
I was a difficult person then, before I accepted Jesus.— Marjorie
|
Anne Stockton
(Photo: SuzAnne Barabas)
|
As personified by Stockton with her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail and wisp of a Southern accent, Marjorie appears neither hardened by anger nor visibly repentant. She does indicate a self-serving assurance and arrogance as she sifts through a stack of index cards that contain the questions, choosing to answer some and tossing others into the wastebasket. She knows what she want to tell and has no qualms about re-arranging the facts, justifying her acts, and modifying others' conclusions.
Stockton, who is performing in her own adaptation of Stewart O’Nan’s same-name novel about an Oklahoma inmate, appeared in this harrowing monodrama as part of the fifth annual "Women Center Stage" festival presented at the Culture Project in the summer of 05. It is a fine enough showcase, if one that is also, by right of its subjective confessional format, of limited dramatic variety. Since Stockton provides a vivid portrait of an amoral woman caught up in a series of horrific events that spiral out of her control, this is not to imply that her dramatic range is limited.
As directed with a minimalist touch by Austin Pendleton, The Speed Queen follows a rather conventional, yet curiously involving path to its inevitable conclusion. Pendleton, whose performance as a suicidal professor in the Steppenwolfe Theater’s production of The Sunset Limited (see our review) can currently be seen Off-Broadway, has been involved with this monologue since reading the book and Stockton’s adaptation. Minimalism is also set designer Jessica Park’s approach to the Death Row cell which contains one chair, two small side tables, and bureau.
Dramatic first person narratives demand a great deal and it is to Stockton’s credit that she resists grandstanding emotions in favor of her character’s tough-skinned shifts in tone and temperament. No attempt has been made to keep Marjorie overly active in the cell, except for occasional phone calls to her mother and a quick snort of smack hidden in a soft drink can. That she sees herself as a victim, even as we see her as a callous and gutsy no-regrets woman with limited intellect, gives the play its heft. We are all ears as she talks about her relationships with her drug-dealing lover Lamont, her Lesbian lover Natalie, and her young son Gainey, who will benefit from the proceeds of the book.
The detailed accounts of a killing spree that rivals Bonnie and Clyde and the death of her husband Lamont are riveting. But Marjorie’s reaction to the survival of her one-time lover Natalie (a rival for her husband’s attention whose own account of their Lesbian tryst and unholy partnership has been published), provides the insight into her decision to tell all. Marjorie’s story also alludes to her religious conversion and salvation, evidently the result of the frequent visits of Sister Perpetua.
On one level, we understand how Marjorie’s ill-fated life is a direct result of her addiction to drugs and her need to place the blame for her actions on others. Yet what makes Marjorie most fascinating comes from seeing her inability to make rational and prudent choices, and for Stockton, as her interpreter, to make sure we don’t see her in a sympathetic light.
The Speed Queen may trigger memories of the films I Want to Live, the story of Barbara Graham (with Susan Hayward), the first woman to die in an electric chair, and Monster, about serial killer Aileen Wournos (Charlize Theron). But The Speed Queen stands apart from these ill-fated women's stories for its unapologetic resolve to not encourage our empathy and without casting a rosy glow around its anti-heroine.
|
The Speed Queen By Anne Stockton (based on the book by Steward O’Nan) Directed by Austin Pendleton Cast: Anne Stockton Scenic Design: Jessica Parks Lighting Design: Rose Riccardi Running Time: 75 minutes no intermission New Jersey Repertory Company at the Lumia Theatre, 179 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ 07740, 732 – 229 – 3166, www.njrep.org Tickets: $30 Tthrough November 12, 2006 Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM. Review by Simon Saltzman based on October 28, 2006 opening night performance |
Easy-on-the budget super gift for yourself and your musical loving friends. Tons of gorgeous pictures.
Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide
At This Theater
Leonard Maltin's 2005 Movie Guide
>
