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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;page-break-after:avoid;text-autospace:none'><b><font
size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-weight:bold'>‘Magical’
portrait of grief in heartfelt performance<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Published: Friday, February 20, 2009 1:10 AM EST <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Reviewed by Fran Heller <br>
Contributing Writer<br>
<br>
“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.”<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Didion wrote the play for her friend Vanessa Redgrave, who starred in the 2007
Broadway production.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The intimacy of the Actors’ <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City> production makes the theatrical
experience more rewarding. In the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
York</st1:place></st1:State> 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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
There are times, however, when Alexander delivers her words without pause.
Shifts in mood, tone, thought and sentiment need to be more sharply defined.<br>
<br>
Like a journalist with an astute eye for detail, Didion describes with almost
clinical detachment the death<br>
<br>
of her husband. The memoir is a portrait of a closely connected family and a
40-year marriage shattered by devastating loss.<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>“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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
To the extent the production succeeds as drama is entirely owing to<br>
<br>
director Silver’s watchful eye and Alexander’s heartfelt delivery.<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>WHAT: </span></b>“The Year of Magical
Thinking”<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>WHERE: </span></b>Actors’ <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>, <st1:address
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">86 Owen Brown St.</st1:Street>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Hudson</st1:City></st1:address><br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>WHEN:</span></b> Through March 1<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>TICKETS & INFO:</span></b> 330-342-0800
or <a href="http://www.actorssummit.org/">www.actorssummit.org</a><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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