"Trying: A Play About Generations" (three plus stars)
At TheaterWorks in Hartford through July 28 as a few supplementary performances have been added on, "Trying" is about friendship. It is subtitled "a play about generatrions." Judge Francis Biddle (Michael McGuire), now 87, worked as Attorney General when Franklin Roosevelt was president. Sara Schorr (Lena Kaminsky) 25, arrives in Philadelphia (it is now 1967) via her native land of Canada. She is tight-lipped, sharp, highly functional, and cannot keep all of her notions to herself.
He is cranky, professorial, sardonic but also warm-hearted. She is caught in an unfortunate marriage and (paradoxically) becomes drawn to Biddle. He corrects her tendency to split an infinitive, coaxes Lena to take charge of his checkbook, waxes on about the future or lack of pertaining to political liberalism.
Joanna McClelland Glass has written a script which (unlike many contemporary stage books) hooks the viewer during its opening moment. Glass develops characters and Biddle is drawn with deft, clever, precise brush strokes. McGuire has taken physical nuance to the maximum here and his consequent performance is riveting on a couple of levels. For the acting student, McGuire demonstrates discipline as he matches word to physical gesture. This is how it should be done. He is always aware of his audience. Hence, McGuire's turn is as proficient as might be imagined. His timing is perfect and he his able to take each comic line and spin it towards the audience. Enviable work.
She, the foil but finally the friend, understates her role as secretary. Initially submissive, she soon steps up to Biddle, sticking him with a few barbs of her own. The repartee, flying back and forth like a ping pong ball) marks "Trying" with distinction.
Steve Campo, as director, must make certain that the proceedings push forward. Except for a short portion of time after intermission, the dialogue compels. Campo has the actors positioned on an angle which allows the audience to become active.
Glass has written about morality as she composed "Trying," a script evidently drawn from reality. Biddle will soon die, he knows it, minces no words about his remaining time. Sarah is beginning her career and about to give birth. Still, each learns from the other. She understands that obstacles are tantamount to existence. He sees that he must not become completely myopic -- that he must include others within his vision regardless his limited time.
This play's success is very much dependent upon actors' sense of one another. It probably doesn't take a whole lot to posit that as the run evolves the protagonists are increasingly effective. They probably have one another's lines committed to memory. Toss them onto another set and they most assuredly would run through the play.
The scenic design, by the way, is quite helpful. Adrain W. Jones provides a wooded interior serving as Biddle's library and study. It comes complete with period typewriter, cot, etc.
"Trying" is also quite amusing, in its wry and witty modes. Biddle, a parody of the still dapper but limping and arthritic elder statesman, milks his moments. Sarah is imitimidated -- for the first minute of the play. Then, she smiles and holds her own. That she is from Saskatchewan and an a couple of rungs beneath Biddle when it comes to social class matters not. If this woman had a candle, she might, by the end of the dialogue, hold it clearly up to Biddle's eye.
He is cranky, professorial, sardonic but also warm-hearted. She is caught in an unfortunate marriage and (paradoxically) becomes drawn to Biddle. He corrects her tendency to split an infinitive, coaxes Lena to take charge of his checkbook, waxes on about the future or lack of pertaining to political liberalism.
Joanna McClelland Glass has written a script which (unlike many contemporary stage books) hooks the viewer during its opening moment. Glass develops characters and Biddle is drawn with deft, clever, precise brush strokes. McGuire has taken physical nuance to the maximum here and his consequent performance is riveting on a couple of levels. For the acting student, McGuire demonstrates discipline as he matches word to physical gesture. This is how it should be done. He is always aware of his audience. Hence, McGuire's turn is as proficient as might be imagined. His timing is perfect and he his able to take each comic line and spin it towards the audience. Enviable work.
She, the foil but finally the friend, understates her role as secretary. Initially submissive, she soon steps up to Biddle, sticking him with a few barbs of her own. The repartee, flying back and forth like a ping pong ball) marks "Trying" with distinction.
Steve Campo, as director, must make certain that the proceedings push forward. Except for a short portion of time after intermission, the dialogue compels. Campo has the actors positioned on an angle which allows the audience to become active.
Glass has written about morality as she composed "Trying," a script evidently drawn from reality. Biddle will soon die, he knows it, minces no words about his remaining time. Sarah is beginning her career and about to give birth. Still, each learns from the other. She understands that obstacles are tantamount to existence. He sees that he must not become completely myopic -- that he must include others within his vision regardless his limited time.
This play's success is very much dependent upon actors' sense of one another. It probably doesn't take a whole lot to posit that as the run evolves the protagonists are increasingly effective. They probably have one another's lines committed to memory. Toss them onto another set and they most assuredly would run through the play.
The scenic design, by the way, is quite helpful. Adrain W. Jones provides a wooded interior serving as Biddle's library and study. It comes complete with period typewriter, cot, etc.
"Trying" is also quite amusing, in its wry and witty modes. Biddle, a parody of the still dapper but limping and arthritic elder statesman, milks his moments. Sarah is imitimidated -- for the first minute of the play. Then, she smiles and holds her own. That she is from Saskatchewan and an a couple of rungs beneath Biddle when it comes to social class matters not. If this woman had a candle, she might, by the end of the dialogue, hold it clearly up to Biddle's eye.
posted by Fred Sokol at 10:53 AM
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