Grace & Glorie
by Tom Ziegler
directed by Cameron Watson
Colony Theatre
through July 18
Many plays have been written about holding on to life in the face of death, many maudlin, but rarely has there been a play as glorious in every way as
Grace & Glorie. The Colony's meticulous production rings out with unparalleled honesty and glory!
Grace, previously played by
Estelle Parsons and
Gena Rowlands on film, has found her perfect match in the consummate artistry of
Beth Grant. Grant's down-to-earth, real behavior, down to the tiniest detail, makes "
Amazing Grace" feisty, difficult to manage, boldly independent...but still funny, wise, and ultimately warm and loveable. Hers is a performance of undeniable truth and joy.
Melinda Page Hamilton as Gloria, all business-like at first glance, is stunning in her own way. She makes Gloria, or Glorie, as Grace calls her, beautiful, purposeful, attentive, yet, in the beginning, distant and with dubious intentions. In fact, Ziegler rasises the questions at the onset: to Grace, what has been the point of your life? and to Glorie, what is the point of you being here? As with all great drama, it's about purpose, the why of existence, and can we gracefully get past it?
Grace is a 90 year-old, old-fashioned God-fearing Christian woman who has only weeks to live and puts her reamining time in the hands of the Lord. She assuredly believes that "idleness is the devil's workshop" and sees her purpose as keeping busy. Everyone can identify with her "set in my ways" philosophy, whose lifestyle may have showed itself to us via our grandmother, great grandmother, mother or the like. She has a selfish grandson, who ignores her, and a distant young great niece who, though they have never met, gives her hope.
Glorie comes from the selfish world of now. Her husband is a lawyer, and although she fills her days as a volunteer hospice worker, money and comfort obsess her. She previously lost a 12 year-old son in an auto accident. Blaming herself for his death, she uses Grace's looming death selfishly as a first hand experience for her own suicidal plans.
The two, who are as different as day and night, gradually become fast friends, and each one's life is changed for the better. The beauty of the play lies in these characterizations - two diverse but real women who learn to live from moment to moment without a trace of artifice or
sentimentality.
Jeff McLaughlin's set of the log cabin grandma cottage is impeccably designed and
decorated. Cameron Watson has sublimely directed the two fine actresses and never lets one outshine the other.
This is a lovely nonmusical pas de deux whose heaven on earth message reaches out with pure harmony and love.
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