Tue. January 24, 2006
By John Olson
In Richard Greenberg's new play directed by Steppenwolf's Terry Kinney, the character Mark tells the audience that everyone has a period in their life that fully expresses them – presumably when they're best able to live the sorts of lives they would most like to live, have their ideas heard and appreciated, and find support in kindred spirits. The theater season of 2005-06 might be Greenberg's, with world premieres in New York of A Naked Girl on the Appian Way on Broadway, The House in Town at Lincoln Center, the highly anticipated Broadway revival of Three Days
of Rain starring Julia Roberts and two other premieres at regional theaters: Bal Masque at D.C.'s Theater J, as well this production at Steppenwolf.
Though the year began with disappointing reviews for Naked Girl, The Well-Appointed Room will likely be much better received. It's a gentle, thoughtful, and philosophical comedy-drama in which Greenberg ponders a new question – how are we to live our lives once we've come to the realization that our futures hold no guarantee of happiness or security? The Well-Appointed Room is less explosive than Take Me Out, less funny than The Violet Hour, more optimistic than Three Days of Rain and, happily or not, less laden with lengthy monologues than any of the above; but it contains its own distinctive mix of Greenberg's trademark heart, humor and philosophy.
As this is a play of ideas more than characters, it offers little opportunity for bravura performances, but the cast under Kinney's direction serves Greenberg's ideas ably. Letts' characters, particularly the stranger Mitchell of act two are the most colorful, and Letts knows exactly how far to push them while remaining short of grandstanding. Josh Charles is believably kind and sensitive as a husband who on paper is really too good to be true. Amy Morton and Kate Arrington convey the wives' anger and anxiety respectively quite successfully, and Morton has the opportunity to display her versatility by playing a much older character in the second act.
The production is enhanced by the realistic set of Robert Brill (Tony-nominated for Assassins) which brings an authentic mid-century design to the apartment, and magically flies away to suggest other locations, supplemented by dreamy projections of the New York skyline designed by Sage Marie Carter.
The Well-Appointed Room runs until March 12, 2006. Curtain times are Tuesday-Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m., Wednesday matinees on February 22, March 1 and 8 at 2:00 p.m. There will be no Sunday evening performances February 26, March 5 and 12. Free post-show discussions will be offered daily. Tickets, $20-$60, can be ordered by visiting www.steppenwolf.org or calling 312-335-1650.
Photo: Josh Charles, Kate Arrington
and Tracy Letts. Photo by: Michael Brosilow
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