[NEohioPAL] "Heartfelt" review of YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING by Fran Heller -- Actors' Summit

[Neil Thackaberry]

'Magical' portrait of grief in heartfelt performance

Published: Friday, February 20, 2009 1:10 AM EST 

Reviewed by Fran Heller 
Contributing Writer

"This happened on December 30, 2003. That may seem a while ago, but it
won't when it happens to you. And it will happen to you."

With these words, Joan (MaryJo Alexander) summons us into the private
world of her grief in "The Year of Magical Thinking," a one-person play
adapted from Joan Didion's prize-winning 2005 memoir of the same title.

In this moving anatomy of grief, at once intensely personal and
universal, Didion deals with the death of her husband, screenwriter John
Gregory Dunne, who died suddenly of a heart attack at age 60 in 2003,
and the death of their daughter Quintana, who died two years later at
age 39 after a long, debilitating illness.

Didion wrote the play for her friend Vanessa Redgrave, who starred in
the 2007 Broadway production.

The intimacy of the Actors' Summit production makes the theatrical
experience more rewarding. In the New York production, Redgrave sat in a
chair throughout the show. Dorothy Silver's fluid direction, which keeps
Alexander moving about in a homey setting filled with family photographs
and other memorabilia, relieves much of the stasis.

Casually dressed in slacks and sweater, Alexander's portrait of the
writer is a credible and satisfying one. Locking in her audience with
her eyes, the actress navigates the difficult material and the challenge
of a 90-minute monologue with authority, restraint and sensitivity. She
is never maudlin, a credit to Didion's writing and to a well-directed
production.

There are times, however, when Alexander delivers her words without
pause. Shifts in mood, tone, thought and sentiment need to be more
sharply defined.

Like a journalist with an astute eye for detail, Didion describes with
almost clinical detachment the death

of her husband. The memoir is a portrait of a closely connected family
and a 40-year marriage shattered by devastating loss.



"Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant." These were the first
words Didion put to paper following John's death, which became the start
of her memoir. They are included in the play.

Didion's powerful book does not translate into live theater as
successfully. Long stretches of numbing detail and in-house references
to friends and places where the family lived are monotonous.

The play's title is drawn from primitive cultures that believe a change
of behavior could alter outcome. For example, Joan's magical thinking
includes remembering being told to give John's clothes away, but she
thinks if she keeps his shoes, he'll come back.

The play's emotional center lies in the playwright's dealing with her
daughter's death. Speaking in hushed tones, sometimes barely above a
tremulous whisper, Alexander is at her most moving when she describes
Quintana's death. "I promised I would keep you safe. Did I lie to you?"
she asks. Her voice breaking with feeling, the actress summons the agony
of a mother who believes she has failed to protect her child.

To the extent the production succeeds as drama is entirely owing to

director Silver's watchful eye and Alexander's heartfelt delivery.

WHAT: "The Year of Magical Thinking"

WHERE: Actors' Summit, 86 Owen Brown St., Hudson

WHEN: Through March 1

TICKETS & INFO: 330-342-0800 or www.actorssummit.org
<http://www.actorssummit.org/> 



 

 

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