'The Year of Magical Thinking' at Seattle's Intiman

Seattle's Intiman Theatre's current production of Joan Didion's one woman play "The Year of Magical Thinking" while pretty cannot capture the emotion in such a tragic tale.  That is assuming that the emotional arc exists in the first place.

Didion's play, based on her memoirs of the same name, takes the audience through the all too real circumstances surrounding the death of Didion's husband and daughter all within the span of a year.  Let me start by saying the problem I find with some autobiographical accounts that are transformed into theatrical events is that they have nowhere to go in a literary, storytelling frame of mind.  In order to survive as an engaging story the events need to have a coherent through line that joins all of the events together.  Otherwise they are just so much therapy on stage for the author.  But with a pedigree such as Didion's one would think that this would not be an issue in this regard.  But it did seem to be case here at the Intiman. 

But I cannot attribute this lack of coherency strictly to Didion's piece.  The play was originally produced on Broadway in 2007 directed by David Hare and starring the legendary Vanessa Redgrave.  I cannot imagine a one woman anything starring Redgrave to not connect on so many levels with any audience.  So that in mind, I am only left to leave the fault to the performer and director of this production.  Directed here in Seattle by Sarna Lapine and performed by Judith Roberts, the current production fails to make any kind of emotional connection that the audience can empathize with.  Roberts' delivery is so stilted, over enunciated, forced and without any levels that the script becomes plodding and dull.  It comes across as a string of events conveyed in her stream of consciousness delivery style.  And it just fails to capture the attention of the audience.  I can't help to think that in the hands of Redgrave and Hare, this could have been a fascinating and moving event.  In this case, it was not.

The only bright points I saw in the show were the amazing set designed by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams and stunning lighting design by L.B. Morse.  Their designs managed to transport the audience to a very magical place from the moment they set foot in the theater.  Unfortunately Roberts takes us right out of it.  Having said that I almost want to go back and see the show again.  Intiman announced that Lori Larsen will assume the role for performances Saturday, September 12 at 8 pm; Sunday, September 13 at 7:30 pm; Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, September 19 at 8 pm.   Maybe Larsen will do better with the piece.  But that option notwithstanding, I found "The Year of Magical Thinking" to be far less than magical.

"The Year of Magical Thinking" plays at Seattle's Intiman Theatre through September 20^th.  For tickets and information contact the box office at 206-269-1900 or visit them online at www.intiman.org.