Seeing brilliance - TheatreWorks illuminates thought-provoking drama
2007-09-28
To see, or not to see? That is the question asked on multiple levels in TheatreWorks New Milford's thought-provoking drama, "Molly Sweeney." The story asserts that seeing is not necessarily understanding: to fully perceive the act of seeing, one must explore the relationship between vision and understanding. Then, and only then, can a full sense of the world of Molly Sweeney be gained.
For the audience to comprehend the relationship between vision and understanding requires a strong cast with a natural proclivity for translating their characters' joys and vulnerabilities.
Fortunately, director Richard Pettibone chose his actors well, and the literal answer to the initial question—to see or not to see this play—is a no-brainer. TheatreWorks' "Molly Sweeney," a riveting production, should be seen by all as it satisfies the soul and offers much food for thought. On the surface, Brian Friel's "Molly Sweeney" is a straightforward story revolving around 35-year-old Molly Sweeney (Jackie Decho-Holm), blind since she was 10-months old, whose world—and the world of her husband, Frank (James Hipp), and her doctor, Mr. Rice (John Taylor)—is turned upside-down when she is told her sight could be restored through surgery. The questions that arise for the characters -- and for the audience -- then move center stage as the unforeseen consequences of this "miracle" consume the characters in ways no one could ever predict.
As the story begins, the audience discovers that Molly is quite content in her life of blindness. She explores the world tactilely, and enjoys activities her sighted peers do with just as much, if not more, verve. As she recalls her childhood with her father in the family's garden, recollecting how she identified areas and specific blossoms in that garden, the audience is truly introduced to Molly's world. Unable to see the colors and beauty we all take for granted, she recalls a different beauty through divine narrative -- her descriptions of swimming and dancing are pure poetry.
Despite her disability, Molly is perfectly content with life and she is happily married to Frank, a passionate, impulsive patron of good causes who longs to embark on a mission to help others. He is a self-educated man who becomes increasingly fascinated by Molly's blindness and, like every other subject with which he becomes impassioned, researches ophthalmology and ponders the philosophical issues related to her vision impairment. With the very enthusiasm he possesses for everything in his life, Frank convinces Molly to undergo a series of operations that might restore some of her sight.
Enter Mr. Rice, a world-renowned eye surgeon who deserted his successful career in New York for a life in the Irish countryside after his wife left him for one of his colleagues. A once well-respected and fearless doctor, his life has fallen into ruin, his ambition drowned in bottle after bottle of whiskey—until he meets Molly. Her case is an opportunity to not only restore her sight, but to restore his own self-esteem and reputation.
Molly, who substitutes whimsical visions of the world for her lack of sight, questions not only the doctor and her husband, but herself as to what she would gain from the surgery. She has never felt deprived, but when she "sees" the importance this miracle holds for Frank and Mr. Rice, she decides to "take that brief excursion into the world of sight."
Once Molly takes that leap, however that safe, comfortable world she created can never be regained. Expectations, coupled with sensory overload and disillusionment, leads to a world in which none of the images Molly's eyes see reach her consciousness. Will a "seeing" world be brighter for Molly, or darker than her sightless world? This question provides the grist for some of the most riveting monologues delivered upon the TheatreWorks stage.
Some theatergoers may be weary of the show's unusual format—told strictly through dramatic monologues addressing the audience directly. Rather than physical action, these characters' happy memories, their fears and anguish—their every emotion—is laid bare to the audience through speech alone. Irish playwright Brian Friel could not have told his story any other way and maintain its potency. As the monologues begin to commingle, the story unfolds sensually, mirroring the world Molly must create for herself in her mind's eye.
For this production to soar requires a trio of actors with enough experience to bring the characters to life, complete with all their flaws and insecurities. Mr. Pettibone was brilliant in his choices and ably guided his actors—with the help of acting coaches Sonnie Osborne and Paula Anderson—into Mr. Friel's conception of Molly Sweeney's world.
Jackie Decho-Holm is remarkable as Molly, whose recollections of childhood and thorough descriptions of her tactile world take the audience to places that only sightless Molly could imagine. Her portrayal of the young woman is delivered at first with a child-like wonder that slowly dissolves with the world Molly knows. From utter joy and to complete disillusionment, Ms. Decho-Holm's performance—particularly in the second act—is utterly engaging as light transforms into darkness.
James Hipp, who just finished a run as the drug-addled and hysterically funny Ralph in TheatreWorks' "hit" musical, "Reefer Madness," reveals a very different side as the ever-passionate and well-meaning Frank. Although his accent sometimes strays from the shores of Ireland, his performance provides just the right amount of humor and balance to offset the most dramatic revelations of the story.
John Taylor, whose most recent TheatreWorks appearance was as the wise and caring Balthasar in the holiday farce, "The Lying Kind," soars as the emotionally crippled and well-intentioned Mr. Rice. Mr. Taylor portrays this broken man with remarkable insight and skill that ranges from ultimate highs, to the most devastating lows. His performance is one of those "chills up the spine" experiences that will never be forgotten.
The abstract set—a makeshift Irish garden in which the characters are seated in their own blocks of space from which they rarely move—carries the production's theme to extraordinary heights. The brilliant use of lighting—in various tones and colors—further illuminates Molly's world of beautified illusion, and reflects her— and Frank's and Mr. Rice's—joys and failures in their individual worlds. Adding yet another ethereal layer is live Irish folk fiddling by Shrdlu.
"Molly Sweeney" is one of those rare productions that brings to light the true meaning of theater and the notion of "seeing"—both literally and metaphorically speaking. "Molly Sweeney," with its haunting central question, is one production you want to see.