If you try to "figure out" Old Times you might miss the performance. At Dramaworks' "Knowledge and
Nibbles" -- which is held the afternoon of the first preview performance
(the one we attend) -- Resident Director J. Barry Lewis compared it to a jazz
riff (my thought exactly when I read the play beforehand). It is meant to wash
over you like a piece of music, performed by the three major "instruments,"
Deeley (a successful film-maker), Kate (his wife) and Anna, a friend of 20
years ago who is visiting the couple in their gentrified farmhouse near the
English coast.
It is about the unreliable, fungible nature of memory and
its affect on relationships, told in "Pinteresque," a variation on
the theatre of the absurd. The opening of the play introduces us first to the
married couple as they are waiting for the arrival of Anna (although she is
already on the stage with her back turned to the audience). Parts of their
dialogue are like an overture to what will follow -- the ambiguous later
recounting of the past in the play. In
just the first few minutes, phrases like "I think," "I think
so," "what does that mean," "when you look back...all that
time," "can't you remember," "it's a very long time,"
"she remembers you," "do
you think," "I didn't know," "I don't know," "I don't
think so," and "I hardly remember her" are tossed around,
foreshadowing the action (and the pauses) that will follow.
At one point Anna says (reinforcing the dreamlike feeling of
the play), "Can you see that tiny ribbon of light? Is that the sea? Is that the horizon?" That sort of sums up how I felt looking for
clarity (not Pinter's intention).
Instead, look for transparency in Pinter's pauses, as much of the story
is told in those silent moments.
The plot is ostensibly simple, but beneath the words are
questions. An old friend visiting a
married couple, Anna now living in Sicily married to a wealthy Italian (an
object of some jealousy on Deeley's part? Deeley has been to Sicily. Did he see
Anna there?). Anna and Kate were good
friends (perhaps lovers?) before Kate met Deeley (or was it before or during
the time Deeley knew Anna?). It is a
dance of divergent memories and even roles (are they all really one person, or
is Anna dead and Kate and Deeley are discussing her?). As Anna says at one point: "There are some things one remembers
even though they may never have happened.
There are things I remember which may never have happened but as I
recall them so they take place."
That sort of sums up the entire play.
There is one particular conflicting memory and that is
Deeley's description of his meeting Kate for the first time at a showing of the
film, "Odd Man Out" (the title could describe Deeley's relationship
with Kate and Anna). Perhaps Kate had
gone to the film WITH Anna, as later Anna asks Kate whether she remembers those
days when they explored London, they had gone to "some totally unfamiliar
district, and almost alone, saw a
wonderful film called "Odd Man Out." (Emphasis, mine.) The opening title of this 1947 British film
noir reads in part, "This story...[is] concerned...only with the conflict
in the hearts of the people when they become unexpectedly involved." Indeed, the characters in Old Times are "unexpectedly"
but, more so, inscrutably involved.
Also, Deeley and Anna might have met (before Deeley met Kate)
at the "Wayfarers Tavern," although Anna does not think so, but
Deeley claims to remember her vividly, describing exactly what she wore. Later,
Anna acknowledges "It was me. I remember
your look...very well. I remember you
well." Kate turns to Anna and then
says "But I remember you. I
remember you dead."
Given the ambiguity of this play, its success is even more
dependent on the performances of the three characters, their direction and the
staging. The actors, as well as the scenic and lighting designers are newcomers
to Dramaworks, but all highly experienced professionals. As J. Barry Lewis explained, Dramaworks
"wanted to work with a group of artists not known to our audience so there
are no expectations." I found this Tabula
rasa approach interesting and particularly relevant to seeing Old Times.
As the play's Director, J. Barry Lewis has made the most of
Pinter's script, making sure the pauses are as significant as what is said. It is part of the rhythm of the play, like
gaps in memory the action on stage have their moments of rest so the audience
can watch the characters, their bodily reactions having as much (or more)
meaning than the words. Nonetheless, Lewis moves the action along and this two
act play, without an intermission, glides by like a passing dream.
The set is particularly important, as it is real, tangible, denoting
something, the action on the stage being so ethereal. Victor Becker, a highly experienced stage
designer, has created an expansive set for the first act. Becker said the "play needed something
grounded"; hence, the beams, reminiscent of the frame of a barn, with the
modern windows indicating that the home had been renovated. The second act is in the bedroom, the top
part of the set lowered, "raising" the audience to the second floor, with
two divans and an armchair replacing the furniture of the living room. It is a more intimate set now and this is
where the play's tension rises. But as Becker related, it is "less about
creating and more about editing -- getting a sense of the play and what it
feels like. "
Inevitably, the success of this play depends greatly on the
three actors making their company debuts, Shannon Koob (Kate), Pilar
Witherspoon (Anna), and Craig Wroe (Deeley).
They are more than up to the task, totally consumed with their interpretations
of the characters. Wroe walks a fine
line between the loving husband, the jealous lover, the angry "man
out" and manages to carry much of the humor in the play (yes, there are
some subtle amusing moments, some of which are delivered with a twist of sarcasm). Koob has a difficult role as Kate as some of her
work is done in silence, the bodily reactions to her husband and Anna, her facial
expressions of hurt and anger -- actually seething anger at times and one
wonders how Koob decompresses after each performance. Witherspoon plays a more animated character, a
catalyst in the lives of Deeley and Kate, almost like a breath of fresh air
entering a stale, worn relationship. The
actors are simply superb.
Paul Black said his lighting design was very different
between the two acts, using his craft to "make emotional
connections." As such, the lighting
is fluid, moving imperceptibly between colors and intensity.
All elements are in sync to make Old Times another Dramaworks unforgettable performance. I particularly liked the numerous threads of
lyrics briefly sung by Deeley and Anna to Kate, almost as if they were trying
to "top" each other, songs written by the likes of Jerome Kern,
George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, among others, songs representative
of the past, evocative and in keeping with "old times." As Deeley remarks "they don't make them
like that anymore." Similarly,
there are few professional theatres that can put together such a seamless,
memorable production of Old Times.
