A Pinter Duet: The Lover & Ashes to Ashes

A Pinter Duet: The Lover & Ashes to Ashes
Two One-Act Dramas by Harold Pinter
Directed by Rick Lombardo

Rick Lombardo, Scenic Design/Sound Design; Chip Schoonmaker, Costume Design; Jamie Whoolery, Lighting Design; John Herndon, Scenic Artist/Properties Design; Andrea T. Healy, Stage Manager

CAST
Rachel Harker, Sarah, Rebecca
Stephen Russell, Richard, Devlin
Ian O'Connor, John, production assistant

Performances through February 10, 2008 at New Rep Downstage
Box Office 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org

Sex, adultery, jealousy - have I got your attention? A Pinter Duet: The Lover & Ashes to Ashes at Downstage @ New Repertory Theatre, offering two views of these hot topics as observed by British playwright Harold Pinter, is deserving of your attention and attendance. If you're unfamiliar with Pinter, be prepared for some strange goings-on and the urge for an occasional head scratching, but Rick Lombardo's direction is so sharp and the acting so spot-on that the result is both accessible and moving.

The theme for this season of Downstage is "Up Close, On the Edge" and for sure this duet lives up to that description. Mounting these plays in the compact black box theatre invites us into the drama, as if we are dinner guests who unwittingly and uncomfortably become witnesses to the most intimate of conversations, a little like visiting George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In this performance space there is no escape for the audience, or for the actors who play to graduated rows of patrons flanking both sides of the stage.

Written in 1962, The Lover has a mod sensibility as the husband and wife share jaunty banter about their extramarital love affairs over morning coffee or evening cocktails. What begins as light and airy, almost ridiculous conversation that makes the illicit appear mundane evolves into ominous, titillating play-acting that exposes a struggle for power and control in their marriage. Stephen Russell inhabits Richard on the journey from milquetoast to master with an efficiency of effort, by his posture, his stride, and his tone of voice. Rachel Harker's Sarah wears a veneer of happy-go-lucky housewife who fills her day with visits from her lover, but gradually reveals the desperate underlying need for fantasy in her life. Skillful as they both are in meandering the twists and turns of the story and wringing the humor out of the situation, Russell and Harker are at their best when the tables are turned and they each must shift their persona to create a new paradigm for the couple.

Ashes to Ashes (1996) is the darker of the two acts and the set reflects the mood. Gone are the colorful chaise lounge, oriental rugs, and accent lamps from the first act. Several pieces of furniture are draped with sheets and only a large wing chair is in service. Whereas Lombardo keeps the actors in motion around the floor and liberally utilizes the entire space in The Lover, in this play Harker is anchored to the wing chair and Russell stands opposite or revolves around her. The static tension and discomfort in the scene is palpable as soon as the dim lights go up. It feels like the middle of a discussion about adultery, but it is at first difficult to discern if the couple is husband and wife or therapist and patient. Devlin seems interested, yet remote as he takes in Rebecca's recollections, which obviously contain so much pain for her. He questions her relentlessly to satisfy his need for the truth, unconcerned with the demons she must face to give him his answers. While she does her best to deflect his inquiry, her fragility is evident and she struggles to hold on to something, anything, solid - be it real or imagined. 

What appears on stage here reinforces the notion that it is so much better to see a play than it is to read it. Russell and especially Harker breathe life into the damaged and complicated souls in each of Pinter's one-acts. Her acclaimed performance as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire earlier this season now seems a warm-up to the characterizations she takes on in Pinter, but especially in Ashes to Ashes as the psychologically cracked china doll that is Rebecca. From one minute to the next, she gives the feeling that she could totally implode and crumble to dust. Our focus is on her and it is impossible to look away. Harker sucks the air out of the room and leaves us gasping for breath by the end of the play. It would not be hyperbole to label this emotionally charged performance the finest I have seen from her.

Contributing to the taut, gripping force of Ashes, Russell conveys a quiet, gnawing intensity that is interrupted by an explosive moment, jolting the audience and demanding attention. For most of the scene Devlin reacts to whatever story Rebecca is telling him, and he is often perplexed, frustrated, or silently aggrieved until he erupts. It is perhaps in this instant and the closing minutes that the parallel between the two acts is most closely aligned. To be sure, they share the quality of Harold Pinter's writing which is intelligent, playful (as in a cat-and-mouse game), and humorous with tantalizing dialogue that rings true.

In support of the two outstanding leads, Director Lombardo crafts an overall solid production with his own scenic and sound designs, Jamie Whoolery's creative lighting design, the flattering costumes by Chip Schoonmaker, and John Herndon's scenic art and properties designs. It is a successful collaborative effort and makes optimum use of the intimate Downstage theatre space. It's hard to believe that it is only in the middle of its second season. A Pinter Duet raises the bar significantly.

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