Review: Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg at Shakespeare & Company

Written by Simon Stephens this two-person play features talented actors Tamara Hickey as the talkative Georgie Burns and Malcolm Ingram as the mature and compassionate Alex Priest. Set in present day London, we watch as the relationship between two unlikely companions changes over the course of six scenes. A common thread that connects them is the loneliness they feel because they have lost the people who meant the most to them. Georgie is a vibrant, spirited woman in her forties who mistakenly kisses the neck of Alex in a busy train station thinking he was someone else. Alex, poised, quiet, and seventy-five, becomes entangled in Georgie’s life, but it might just be the excitement his solitary life needed.

The scenic design by Juliana von Haubrich and lighting design by Dan Kotlowitz paired nicely to create sharp edges, and a world of clean-cut black and white. At the start of the play, there were thin lines, possibly from projections, that crossed in all sorts of directions along the movable flats that were covered in white fabric and stood across the upper part of the stage. Since the play begins in a train station, it makes sense that these lines could have represented various train routes. But it also showed how at various points each line would cross with another; just as human beings at various points cross paths with others that may or may not have an impact on their lives. It accentuated the Heisenberg principle which simple put, states that humans have an unavoidable tendency to influence situations that they may think they are only observing or have no part of. Even the slightest interference can cause the velocity or trajectory of a situation to change. So while Alex is sitting at the train station, listening to his music and minding his own business, he has no idea of the impact that Georgie and her seemingly chaotic personality will have on his life and his path.

Malcolm Ingram and Tamara Hickey. Photo by Eloy Garcia

Under the direction of Tina Packer, Hickey and Ingram wonderfully bring out the nuances and quirks of their very different characters. With each passing scene the audience is unsure where this relationship will go next or if it will fizzle out and the characters will go their separate ways. What we see is how two people can effect one another in both the smallest and biggest ways. Alex likes to tango, but doesn’t want to teach Georgie. He tells her she must learn elsewhere and then he will dance with her. Does he expect that she will actually go learn how to tango just to dance with him? Probably not. So when she surprises him weeks after their friendship began with knowledge of the complex dance steps, he is pleasantly amazed. When Georgie finally reveals her dishonesty and true motives for striking up a conversation with Alex that first day at the train station, though he is confused and hurt, he shows her kindness. He stands by her side as she comes to terms with the fact that she may never see her son again and in doing so is the steadfast rock that Georgie so desperately needed.

While this play was confusing at times and the antics of Georgie seemed to overshadow the calmness of Alex; Hickey and Ingram were fascinating to watch. Stephens writing is fast-paced and intense, but there was a sereneness in the silent moments between this pair that kept the audience fixated. It is an intricately complex play woven with tenderhearted moments that were admirably performed by this duo. ©

This production runs about 90 minutes with no intermission. Heisenberg plays through September 2^nd in the Tina Packer Playhouse on the Shakespeare & Company campus located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets and more information about this play as well as Shakespeare & Company’s full season can be found at www.shakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 413-637-3353. 

Shakespeare & Company presents Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons

Having premiered on Broadway in 2014, Terrence McNally’s incredible drama Mothers and Sons is now playing on the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre stage at Shakespeare and Company in the Berkshires. It is a timely play about the complexity of the relationship between a mother and her son. McNally skillfully crafts characters that seem all too familiar and yet we in the audience don’t see how events will unfold as we become engrossed in each scene. We laugh at the uncomfortable jokes they make in their effort to ease the tension that is building. We gasp at the harshness and bluntness of the things they say. We tear up when they break down in unbearable pain. We see our family members, our friends and our coworkers in the various facets of these characters. In this play about change, personal growth, acceptance of others and, without a doubt, love, we see a glimmer of hope and compassion come from the youngest character; who in his innocence and kindness, shows us that good can come from bad and love can be shown in the smallest of ways.

Similar to Shakespeare and Company’s production of Morning After Grace earlier this summer, Mothers and Sons brings people together by using a character who is spoken about and very important to the other characters within the play, but who never actually appears. It was clear early on that this character, Andre, had a vast impact on the other characters within the story. Katharine, his mother whom he did not have the best relationship with, Cal, his love who cared for him until his passing, Will, Cal's husband, whom Andre never met, but who sometimes feels like he lives in Andre’s shadow, and Bud, the child born long after Andre’s death who knows nothing except how to show kindness and love to another person; even one he just met. It is in Bud that Katharine finds the love she has been seeking. A love she didn’t feel from any other person in her life, including Andre.

Bill Mootos and Annette Miller. Photo by Eloy Garcia.

Directed by James Warwick the cast of four included Annette Miller as Katharine Gerard, Bill Mootos as Cal Porter, David Gow as Will Ogden, and Evan Miller as Bud Ogden-Porter. Miller was riveting as Katharine. At times the audience was shocked at the things Katharine said, audibly gasping. At other times we could feel the pain and anguish Miller was displaying as Katharine mourned her son and lamented their relationship. Katharine was riddled with guilt and after years of stifling her feelings and being angry with her son and how he died, she finally starts to accept the role she played in his life. Many scenes throughout the play paired Miller and Mootos who consistently brought the audience on an emotional rollercoaster as their characters verbally sparred, sympathized and cried with one another all the while standing firm in their own beliefs. As Cal, Mootos often spoke with compassion and tenderness, but soon enough was enough. He was clearly torn up by Katharine’s unplanned and unannounced visit and reliving the past was not how he planned on spending his afternoon. Mootos portrayal was controlled and measured and balanced nicely against Gow’s younger, relaxed and fun loving portrayal of Will. As Will, Gow, was a compassionate father who put his son and his sons’ best interest above everything else. His father-son relationship with Evan Miller, who played Bud at this performance, was believably sweet.

This real-to-life play with its honest confrontations, three adults who want to be good parents and a child who brings life, laughter and love to those most in need gave the audience much to consider as they left the theater and walked out to their cars. Is it possible, after losing someone so important, that the void one feels could ever be filled by another human being? If Andre had not died and left a devastated Katharine and Cal behind, Cal would not have met Will. They would not have gotten married and had their son Bud: the redeeming, wholesome, pure love that each of the adults in this play so desperately needed.

Gut-wrenchingly authentic performances given by the adult cast, who were so invested in these characters and telling this story makes this play one that shouldn’t be missed. The audience was all in, attentive to the actors every moment and they were clearly stirred by their performances. Sniffling, wiping tears, reaching for tissues all while rising to their feet applauding. All signs that this play and these actors truly moved the audience, as I am sure they will continue to do over the course of this run. ©

This production runs about 95 minutes with no intermission. Mothers and Sons plays through September 9^th in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on the Shakespeare & Company campus located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets and more information about this play as well as Shakespeare & Company’s full season can be found at www.shakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 413-637-3353. 

Review: As You Like It at Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA)

William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It is a story of love and the adventurous journey towards new beginnings. Duke Senior has been banished from court by his younger brother Duke Frederick. Frederick then banishes his niece Rosalind who has grown close with his daughter Celia. The pair attend a wrestling match where Rosalind first lays eyes on Orlando whom she quickly becomes enamored with. Orlando flees from his older brother Oliver who is threatening his life and withholding his rightful inheritance from their father Sir Rowland. He ends up in the Forest of Arden, where Duke Senior, Rosalind and Celia have also found sanctuary. But as we see in the play, when characters take on a foreign persona and live in disguise happily ever after doesn’t come as quickly as they’d like.  

Aimee Doherty and Deaon Griffin-Pressley.

Photo by: Nile Scott Studios

Director Allyn Burrows creatively used the entirety of the Roman Garden Theatre as a playing space for the characters in this Roaring Twenties themed production. The scenic design by Jim Youngerman afforded the actors the opportunity to enter from a dozen different locations that surrounded the audience and main performance space. This kept the audience present in the play as they consistently had to change their focal point as the scenes progressed and the characters entered and exited. 

The cast of nine, many of whom took on multiple roles, made each of their characters appealing in some way. The couples were clearly smitten with one another; especially Rosalind and Orlando, played by Aimee Doherty and Deaon Griffin-Pressley. The charismatic Aimee Doherty was perfectly cast as Rosalind. She was kindhearted, but direct in her conversations with other characters. Her interactions with Orlando, Deaon Griffin-Pressley, were bursting with the sweetness of young love. The cast also included Gregory Boover as Silvius, Thomas Brazzle as Oliver/Aubrey, MaConnia Chesser as Touchstone, Nigel Gore as Duke Frederick/Duke Senior, Zoё Laiz as Celia/Adam, Ella Loudon as Phoebe/LaBelle and Mark Zeisler as Charles/Jacques. This talented cast kept the pace of the show moving right along while also giving the audience plenty of opportunities to laugh.  

The original music, by sound designer Arshan Gailus, was well performed by the cast, led by music director & guitarist Gregory Boover. The musical additions both live and recorded were meticulously placed in the production to add to the jazzy twenties atmosphere.

All that being said, for a comedy, this play dragged on at times, though it was through no fault of the actors or the direction, it was simply Shakespeare rambling on. It was not my favorite comedy that Shakespeare & Company has produced, but it was lighthearted and amusing and the audience enjoyed themselves; which is often half the battle. © 

This production runs about two hours and fifteen minutes with an intermission. As You Like It plays through September 2^nd in the Roman Garden Theatre on the Shakespeare & Company campus located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets and more information about this play as well as Shakespeare & Company’s full season can be found at www.shakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 413-637-3353.