[NEOPAL]Berko review: WELL @ Cleveland Play House

[Roy Berko]

Everything is ‘WELL’  AT CPH

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

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As the audience enters Cleveland Play House’s Drury
Theatre, they are confronted by an elderly woman
sitting in a worn La-Z-Boy recliner.  A younger woman
appears from the wings, sharply attired and armed with
index cards.   She steps into her circle of light and
announces that the evening will be a "theatrical
exploration of issues of health and illness both in an
individual and in a community."

The individual is her mother, "a fantastically
energetic person trapped in an utterly exhausted body.
The firebrand who once racially integrated her
neighborhood in Lansing, Michigan.”  

Thus, we are introduced to one of the most bizarre
scripts ever written.  The structure is unlike
anything you’ve ever seen.  The plot is in the
present, the past and the future at the same time. 
And, yet, it’s easy to follow.  

>From the outset, Ann, the mother (Clevelander Denny
Dillon of “Saturday Night Live” fame) controls the
action.  As daughter and playwright Lisa (Alicia Roper
in the CPH production) narrates, Ann corrects,
clarifies and up-stages.  (Does that sound like any
mother you know?)  While Lisa tries valiantly to tell
her tale, mom is so charming and sympathetic that the
audience gets pulled out of Lisa’s story.  At one
point, Ann blithely offers the audience beverages and
flings sacks of snacks at the first few rows by way of
bidding them welcome. Lisa stands there stunned,
wondering if “the absurdist playwright Pirandello
really started this way.”  As Lisa states, “That's
what you get for bending rules, breaking the fourth
wall and experimenting. The lesson to be learned might
be that a playwright should never invite your mother
on the stage with you."

Ann is not the only impediment.  Other actors appear
and, as Lisa talks, they critique the script and her
memories.  Lisa finds herself losing control of her
own play and, therefore, of her life.  What’s right? 
Who is right?  Can life and theatre be integrated? 
Can we, as the playwright contends, “weave into a
whole the parts that don’t fit?”

Sound bizarre?  Sound delightful?  Sound like a play
that received rave reviews in its Off-Broadway
presentation?  Well, ‘WELL,’ is bizarre, delightful
and deserving of the praise it received in its
previous productions.

Denny Dillon is hilarious as the mother.  She uses her
aged kewpi-doll face and whiny voice to the max.   She
is totally believable.  It is easy to understand why
the audience appears to take her side in the conflict
between her version of reality and Lisa’s. 

Alicia Roper is right on target as the daughter.   She
swings from “in control” to “nearly hysterical” with
ease.  She is the perfect foil for Dillon.

The rest of the cast, Zandy Hartig, Jason Miller,
Lelun Durond Thompson and Bailey Varness are fine in
their multi-roles. 

Michael Raiford’s scenic design, putting the realistic
living room and stairway floating in the midst of  an
empty stage, works well.  It isolates the action, but
extends it into all of our experiences.  

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  The CPH production, under the adept
direction of Michael Bloom, is both insightful and
fun.  It’s the perfect blend of what high level
theatre should be: thought-provoking and entertaining.
 This is exactly the kind of play selection and
direction we had hoped Bloom would bring to the
theatre when he was hired as its Artistic Director.

For tickets to ‘WELL,’ which runs through March 26 at
the Cleveland Play House call 216-795-7000 or go
on-line to www.clevelandplayhouse.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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