The Hopper Collection in East Coast Premiere at Huntington Theatre Company

The Hopper Collection by Mat Smart

Directed by DanielAukin, Scenery Designed by Adam Stockhausen, Costumes Designed by Kaye Voyce, Lighting Designed by Matt Frey, Sound Designed by Benjamin Emerson

CAST

Daniel, Bruce McKenzie

Marjorie, Leslie Lyles

Edward, Brian Leahy

Sarah, Therese Barbato

Performances through April 2, 2006 at the Boston University Theatre 617-266-0800 www.huntingtontheatre.org

The best writing allows, encourages, in fact, demands that we use our imagination to fill in the blanks and mold the story to our own experiences. It might be easier to sit back and be told or shown everything that is happening and every possible ramification of the action. However, especially in the theatre, it is far more important to keep the audience engaged and the interaction vital. Isn't that why we go to live theatre?

So, although I was curious to see the painting that was the subject of the show, I can understand the playwright's choice to keep its backside to the audience. It was the "elephant in the room" throughout the play, but that added to the dramatic tension for me. "The Hopper Collection" is about the relationships of Marjorie and Daniel, and Edward and Sarah, as well as the relationship that Marjorie and Daniel each have with Hopper's Summer Evening. The play is rich with symbolism and metaphors that serve to bring Hopper's themes of isolation, indifference, and loneliness to life.

The stage is set as a large, contemporary living room of light wood and textured block, lit by nine skylights in the cathedral ceiling, and full of objets d'art. The rear wall is all glass with floor-to-ceiling sheer drapes. A spiral staircase spills up into the center of the room which is flanked by hallways to two offstage (his and her) wings of the house. The Hopper painting rests on a stand downstage. While giving a very artsy appearance, the room exudes little warmth.

Daniel is vigorously shadow boxing when Marjorie enters and begins their oft-practiced banter. We learn in short order that he was formerly a boxer who uses his moves to try to regenerate her sexual interest in him; despite his unflagging love for her, she wants him dead and has made previous attempts on his life; they have serious marital problems. She then offers him a diet cola with cyanide, apparently hoping to be rid of him in time to celebrate her anniversary (of the date when she met Edward Hopper as a teenager) and before the young couple arrives to view the painting. For his part, Daniel proclaims her act as hubris and chooses to remove himself from the encounter anyway, disappointed that his plans for the anniversary will have to wait until next year. It is made very clear by his vitriol that he has only harsh, negative feelings about the painting and the impact it has had on their marriage, and it is anathema to him that his wife has chosen this night to open their reclusive lives to strangers.

Edward arrives upon the scene and his cheerful, positive demeanor and youthful exuberance seem in stark contrast to his circumstances. He recently learned that he has only months to live due to a brain tumor, and his girlfriend who walked out on him after a marriage proposal two years earlier sent him a picture postcard with no message, but featuring Summer Evening. His letter to Marjorie explaining his intention to reunite with Sarah to view the painting and study its message triggered something for Marjorie so that she agreed to let them come. When Sarah arrives, she is noticeably in awe of the painting, until she and Edward lay eyes on each other. Their embrace says so much (I'm so happy to see you, Why did you leave? I don't want to lose you again, Hold me) and it is a credit to Barbato and Leahy that they can say all that without words.

After Daniel and Marjorie leave them alone, Smart throws a curve that significantly alters the story, but I do not wish to disclose it. When Daniel becomes aware of it, he pleads with the young couple to continue the ploy in order to maintain Marjorie's good mood. Edward and Sarah go out for a walk and Daniel finally has a chance to present his gift to his wife. As much as he professes his loathing of the painting and the role that Hopper has played in their marriage, he desperately wants to please Marjorie, to the point of impersonating the artist and playing out her fantasy of their brief encounter so many years ago.

Like most illusions, this cannot help but fail and drives the conflict to a climax. Daniel retreats from the imaginary scenario he has created and begs Marjorie to let go of the past and her illusions to join him in their real life. I applaud Smart's ability to create the feeling on the stage, which is often used to describe Hopper's works, that something unseen has just happened or is just about to happen. There is a moment of great tension and uncertainty where their lives and their marriage hang in the balance. McKenzie and Lyles vivify Daniel's hurt and frustration and Marjorie's emptiness and bewilderment. The concept of time slipping away applies not only to Edward, but to them as well. As they consider their future, the lights fade to black.

My question after the denouement is why Daniel loves Marjorie so much. She is at best eccentric and perhaps more to be pitied than censured, but at her worst is a deluded, caustic, knife-wielding pill-popper. His ongoing ardor may be more a characteristic of his boxer's brutish tenacity, his own inability to let go, than a pure, healthy adoration. That would be understandable, but the playwright appears to want us to believe that, like a Bobo doll, Daniel can be knocked on his heels and repeatedly bounce back for more with a smile rather than a sneer on his face. In interviews, Smart has credited Edward Albee with influencing his decision to pursue his career in theatre and there are some similarities in this work. However, it is easier to see why George stays with Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" as the layers of their personalities and relationship are peeled back to reveal what's in it for him. It's not so clear with Daniel.

As befits a play about art, light plays an important role in "The Hopper Collection," whether it is Marjorie's reminiscences of the artist viewing her in the changing light of dusk, the design of the living room to reflect the most natural light on the painting, or her realization that the natural light will ultimately destroy the painting. Matt Frey's work adds many shades to the palette of this production. I wish he could have shed a little more light on the story.

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