[NEohioPAL] Review of "4000 Miles" at Dobama Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Dobama's '4000 Miles' is a trip worth taking

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 12/14/12

 

 

'Tis the season for big, brash, holiday-themed productions at local theaters.  Leave it to the folks at Dobama Theatre-who have been producing plays of conscience and consequence since 1959-to offer something unassuming and really quite lovely.

 

Currently on stage is an intimate, one-act contemplation called "4000 Miles."  In it, playwright   Amy Herzog delicately explores the pleasure of another's company at the end of very long journey.

 

For octogenarian Vera Joseph, that journey is her life-the life of a wife and, now, a widow of a once-celebrated Communist writer and activist.  Grappling with the physical and mental indignities of aging, she is independent but alone, mobile but with nowhere to go, and intelligent but addled by the onset of Alzheimer's. Vera is a radical without a cause and in desperate need of companionship beyond the occasional and infuriating phone calls from the neighbor across the hall.  

 

For 21-year-old Leo, that journey is a cross-country excursion by bike.  He shows up at his grandmother's Greenwich Village apartment at 3 a.m. with few possessions but plenty of emotional baggage.  Despite his fine sense of direction, Leo is as lost and aimless as Vera and in desperate need of family and a friend.

 

There is little that is overtly theatrical or deeply philosophical about "4000 Miles."  In fact, not much happens save the healing, which is its charm.  In this Joel Hammer directed production, there is also an astute attention to detail and a great sensitivity in the handling of the material, which is its gift.

 

Not true.  Its gift is octogenarian actress Dorothy Silver, who magically transforms herself into something she is not: a frail, faltering old woman.  She enters the stage at the start of the play a toothless, clueless apparition in the dark upon Leo's late-night arrival, and she is brilliant.  Silver remains that way-brilliant, not toothless-throughout the production.  Every utterance, every gesture, every slight signature hesitation is a perfect marriage of purpose and poetry.  She is an absolute pleasure to watch.

 

To his credit, Matt O'Shea as Leo holds his own and then some.   He brings an incredible truth to his portrayal and matches Singer's heart and subtle comic touch every step of the way.  His pain is palatable when failing to reconcile a relationship with his estranged girlfriend (a wonderful Rachel Lee Kolis).  So is his awkward desperation when failing to connect with a casual pickup (a delightful Kat Bi).  So is his suffering and release when revealing to Vera what transpired during his long bike ride home.

 

It is the acting, really, that holds our attention in this play. It is the ability of the performers to make their characters seem so lived-in that we want to spend this time with them and care about the outcome of their unplanned and untidy reunification.  

 

Scenic designer Laura Carlson complements the script and the performances by providing a detailed dwelling that, while functional and comfortable, is as worse for wear as the characters.  Missing is the sense that the apartment comes with windows, for Jeremiah Landi's lighting does not sufficiently establish time of day or add much texture to the place.

 

Leave it to the folks at Dobama Theatre to serve up a holiday play after all-a stocking-stuffer of a drama full of hope and the power of family to restore, rebuild and refuel one's soul.

 

"4000 Miles" continues through January 6 at the Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $26, call 216-932-3396 or visit www.dobama.org.

 
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