Sometimes it’s nice just to go to the theatre and enjoy a story as it unfolds. Not every play is high drama or grand farce. The middle range can often be entertaining and engaging if risks are taken, and if the show has the audience’s best interests in mind. Fun was indeed had at the ’92 Theater this weekend in a production of the unusual play “Life x 3,” written by Yasmina Reza (“Art,” “Unexpected Man”) and directed by Logan Starr ’06. Starr and company tackled a tricky and delicately structured text and emerged the better for it.
Henry (Halley Feiffer ’07) and Sonia (Jillian Weinberger ’07) are lounging at home, idly discussing the menu for their dinner the next night, when Henry’s astrophysicist boss Hue (Ashley May ’07) and her wife Ines (Nadia Wilson ’06) are to come for dinner. Then Hue and Ines arrive, a day early. The two couples awkwardly munch on chips and drink wine while their lives and relationships unravel—three times. Reza takes us through three different possibilities of how the evening turns out, each with a different outcome.
Though in the script Henry and “Hue” (as written by Reza, Hubert) are men, in this production all the characters were women. Whether a result of casting difficulties or artistic vision, this choice had intriguing, if mixed, results. It made sense of the dinner in the first place; prominent lesbians are probably rare in the astrophysics field, so it seems likely that Henry and Hue would socialize, whether out of genuine solidarity or a forced sense of etiquette. It also adds an appealing sense of interchangeability; Sonia and Hue are attracted to each other in the script, and with this casting there are even more possibilities for illicit pairing-off. Furthermore, it was gratifying to see gender roles challenged in this specific way—why, in literature, are certain character traits ascribed to men? Why are there so many more male roles than females in theatre? The casting of “Life x 3” offered the promise of an exploration.
But the show never realized this potential. There was zero sexual tension between Henry and Hue, and there was never an indication that the two couples had anything in common besides astrophysics. Nor was there any understanding of how women act with each other—how they connect, attack or seduce. Feiffer and May weren’t “playing male,” but their characters still seemed stand-ins for men. It was bothersome, for example, that Ines had a purse but not Hue. Hue did not have pockets or a coat—where did she keep her lipstick? The car keys? Hue’s the breadwinner—wouldn’t she have a wallet somewhere? It was as though Ines had one in order to mark her as female.
Throughout the show Starr set up interesting motifs that were not carried out. The design was aesthetically appealing, but seemed to emphasize style over substance. Before each rendition of the evening there was a brief light show, each time in a different color scheme. The contrast between the abstract lighting and the realistic set was interesting, but the show seemed to rely on this alone to explain why the play was structured as a triptych.
The show ran well moment to moment, with strong performances on all counts. The surprise of the evening was Weinberger, whose stubborn and sometimes confrontational Sonia often stole the show. She and Feiffer were believable as a couple, as were Wilson and May. Feiffer seemed the most comfortable in her character’s skin. Her Henry was by turns affable and self-destructive, a reluctant sycophant who can say no to neither her son nor her boss. She was also the best at handling the astrophysics language. Wilson brought an important sympathy to the friendly but nit-picking Ines, while still embodying the superficial housewife. May had perhaps the biggest challenge—feminizing the pompous Hue. She did admirably well, believably both rakish and toxically self-absorbed.
Set designer Nick Weiss-Richmond ’07 made good use of the space, using a wall of the ’92 Theater literally as a wall of Henry and Sonia’s flat. He created a sunken living room effect simply and effectively, and the white, quirkily patterned wallpaper gave ubiquitous light designer Greg Malen ’07 room to play.
The intense, pulsing transition music undermined the dramatic tension in the play. Additionally, some of the blocking looked arbitrary, with characters refilling their full wine glasses while ignoring someone else’s empty one. But the cast made otherwise good use of the three-quarter set-up, with good angles on the action from all sides. Though the audience left with no real understanding of why this story was repeated three times—and it was unclear whether the creators of the show understood it themselves—they were treated to a nicely sleek production of a challenging, unusual play. Good risks were taken and important questions raised. Perhaps there were too many flourishes and not enough arc to the story, but the show was still highly enjoyable and well worth the audience’s time. No doubt next time substance will merit style.
LIFE X 3 by Yasmina Reza; directed by Logan Starr ’06; stage manager Raomej Caro ’07; light design by Greg Malen ’07; set design by Nick Weiss-Richmond ’07; costume design by Jess Chayes ’07; props by Liam McAlpine ’07; sound design by Logan Starr.
WITH Halley Feiffer ’07 (HENRY), Ashley May ’07 (HUE), Jillian Weinberger ’07 (SONIA), Nadia Wilson ’06 (INES).
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