Review: 'Boston Marriage' at The Gamm

I was a blank slate when I entered the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre's (The Gamm) production of Boston Marriage. I know Mamet's work, of course. I am a huge fan of Glengarry Glen Ross, but I had no knowledge of Boston Marriage and was uncertain how Mamet's style would translate into a "Drawing-Room Comedy". The Gamm's production, directed by Judith Swift, is terrific and funny on a whole bunch of levels.

Boston Marriage is the story of Claire (Casey Seymour Kim) and Anna (Wendy Overly), two Victorian ladies who have been in an intermittently intimate relationship for quite a while. Claire and Anna's position in society is secured by the veil of their Boston Marriage along with the ageism and sexism that prevented Victorian women of a certain age from being perceived as sexual. Anna also has a male benefactor. This married man is, in common parlance, her sugar-daddy. Through the years, Anna and Claire's relationship has evolved from having a teacher/protégé' to one of equals. While they may no longer be physically intimate with each other, the are still intimate, nonetheless.

Out in society these women are the picture of respectability. Behind closed doors, where no one but the servants see them, they are bitter, conniving, predatory and express themselves freely. Claire and Anna are lascivious, catty, wenches who care only about what affects them. 

Karen Carpenter plays Catherine, the latest in a never-ending stream of servants that have worked in the household. To Claire and Anna she is a non-entity, interchangeable with any and all of the other girls that have served them. Catherine is a proud Scot who is dumb like a fox. 

Claire, who years ago entered this relationship as ingénue, has found a young women whom she desperately wants to seduce and ravage. Unfortunately the object of her affection is, as is custom, accompanied by a chaperone. Claire convinces Anna to host the seduction, while distracting the chaperone. When the young woman's arrives, Anna greets her wearing her finest, including an ostentatious emerald necklace, a gift from her benefactor. Unfortunately, the young woman leaves immediately after recognizing the necklace as being a family heirloom that belongs to her mother. Anna and Claire try to salvage their respective relationships less they face financial ruin, along with the ridicule of society. 

Two of the main characters, the benefactor and his young, beautiful daughter that are neither seen nor heard. Their presence is as strong and as real as the three characters on stage. 

Swift has cast this production beautifully. Kim (who was recently in Season's Greetings at the Gamm, and killed) and Overly are divine. These actors play bitter and bitchy with great comic timing. Carpenter plays the dour-faced Catherine with a empty-headedness that I love. The threesome remind me, in the best possible way, of Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Jane Horrocks. In a drawing-room comedy I expect Noel Coward. What we get with Boston Marriage is more like Absolutely Fabulous, the insanely funny BBC comedy, written by Jennifer Saunders.

David Mamet's Boston Marriage plays at The Gamm in Pawtucket, RI through Sunday, April 13^th. Tickets range from $20 - $34 and are available by calling (401) 723-4266 or by visiting www.arttixri.com.

Photo:  Casey Seymour Kim as Claire, Karen Carpenter as Catherine the maid and Wendy Overly as Anna.  

Photo Credit:  Peter Goldberg

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