[NEohioPAL]Berko review: GOLDA'S BALCONY (Playhouse Square)

[Roy Berko]

GOLDA’S BALCONY IS TELLS IMPORTANT STORY, BUT....

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

As I left the Palace Theatre following the opening
night production of ‘GOLDA’S BALCONY, a female friend
ran up to me and gushed, “Wasn’t Valerie Harper
wonderful?”  I paused for a second and said, “I knew
it was Valerie Harper portraying Golda Meir.”

When an actor portrays a role, we should see, believe,
experience the real person.  There have been many
portrayals that have accomplished that.  Richard Kiley
was Cervantes in MAN OF LAMANCHA.  Zoe Caldwell was
Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's ‘MASTER CLASS.’  On
the local level, last year Wayne Turney didn’t portray
Harry Truman at Actors’ Summit, we saw Harry Truman on
stage.  In that same venue, Neil Thackaberry
transformed himself into Clarence Darrow several
months ago.  Dorothy Silver made us forget that she
was Dorothy Silver and became Maria Callas in Beck’s
production of MASTER CLASS.  Those were “wonderful”
performances.  That’s what Valerie Harper should have
done.  It’s what, Tovah Feldshuh did when she
portrayed Golda Meir in the Broadway run of the play. 
She was Meir.

In Harper’s case, the accent wasn’t consistent.  Her
body wasn’t intense, it didn’t naturally reflect the
anguish.  She stumbled over lines.  She was acting,
not reacting.  I never lost the feeling I was in the
theatre watching a performance.  Was she bad?  No.
>From my perspective, she was just not as wonderful as
my friend seemed to think.

William Gibson, the author of ‘GOLDA’S BALCONY,’
developed the play as a series of stories, hinged
together with personal comments.   At times one has to
wonder how much of Golda’s “own words” are really hers
and how much were Gibson’s imagination.  However,
there is enough factual material to learn the lessons
of pre-birth pangs and early years of childhood horror
that the people of Israel endured.

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was a controversial
person.  Often perceived as the strongest female
leader this world has yet to experience, she was also
a real person with hopes, dreams and heartaches.  She
obviously gave up much of her personal life, including
a relationship with her husband and children, in order
to help her chosen homeland become a reality. 

The play is a mixture of comedy and tragedy.  We often
laugh through our tears from the opening explosion to
the uncertain ending.   The play, though it spans her
entire life, focuses primarily on one incident, the
Yom Kippur War of 1973.  It takes us into Meir’s
office as she fields a never-ending stream of phone
calls, crises large and small, and political posturing
while pondering her most difficult decision yet:
whether to utilize nuclear weapons against her
Egyptian and Syrian enemies.

Throughout, Meir’s commentary alerts us to her
motives.  She states, "My dream was simple, make a new
world." And, make it she did.  We are given a glimpse
into how one woman mapped her life and how it affected
the lives of millions of others. 

Gibson does not sugar coat Meir.  He reveals her as
not only a strong and heroic leader, but someone often
hard heartedly making decisions that had negative
effects on those she loved.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  During its Broadway run, ‘GOLDA’S
BALCONY’ was praised as “A 95-minute miracle.”  It was
that in the hands of Tovah Feldshuh.  In the touring
company  personage of Valerie Harper it is an
acceptable production.

Tickets to, ‘GOLDA’S BALCONY,’ which runs through
December 11,  can be obtained by calling 216-241-6000,
800-766-6048 or going on line to
www.playhousesquare.com. 


Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.

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