BWW Reviews: Voices of the South Goes the DISTANCE

If anyone ever told me that, on a Saturday night, I would be watching a play about an elderly woman suffering from the horrors of Alzheimer's Disease, I would question that person's sanity. However, having "sung the praises" of actor/playwright Jerre Dye on more than one occasion, and having read a couple of rapturous local reviews, I decided to forgo a nearby musical concert by Luna Nova ( a musical venue I have ardently supported) and see Mr. Dye's DISTANCE at Voices of the South. I was not disappointed. Legendary actress Bette Davis famously proclaimed, "Old age ain't no place for sissies" (and she knew well the truth of that, having suffered strokes, a mastectomy, and, worse, the betrayal of a daughter); compound "old age" with Alzheimer's or dementia, and you can magnify the truth of that tenfold.

Though Halloween has not yet arrived, Mr. Dye has seen to it that Christmas comes early for his cast; he has gifted his small ensemble with roles that have been crafted to showcase their particular talents and strengths. Nowhere is this more evident than in the role of "Irene," written especially for JoLynne Palmer, who hasn't had a part with this kind of range in some time. In recent years, she seems to have been given "featured" roles in comedies and dramas, and it's about time that she an opportunity to run expertly through the considerable repertoire of emotions of which she is capable. At different moments, she is petulant, childish, confused, desperate, angry, touching, profane - need I go on?

A good play doesn't just end with a standing ovation (and there was one tonight); it sends its audience members out to ponder a connection to the ideas and characters that have entertained and disturbed them. That's certainly true here. When we first meet the unfortunate "Irene," she is already slipping down a very dark hole. She is not only disoriented, but she fails to recognize her own daughter "Luvie," who, resentful of the unloving relationship she long had with her mother, nonetheless realizes and grudgingly shoulders her responsibilities. (Their thinly veiled animosity and annoyance with each other reminded me of the conflict in Marsha Norman's 'NIGHT, MOTHER.)

If that's all there was to it, this would be pretty grim fare, even if brilliantly acted. However, as in his haunting and humorous CICADA, Mr. Dye knows how to leaven the seriousness with humor, and considerable humor at that. In fact, two of the performers who brought the laughter to that play have once again brought their skills to DISTANCE. (Mr. Dye has worked closely, well, and often with these two, and he knows exactly how to bring them to the starting gate and let them race ahead with their scene-stealing magic). Cecelia Wingate is the endlessly optimistic "Dolly," whose "the glass is half full" brightness is a source of annoyance to "Irene," who, fearful of slipping off into childhood, insists on being treated as an adult; and Steve Swift is the hairdresser "Leonard," loyal to "Miss Irene" (for reasons that become clear by the end of the play) and comfortable in his own skin. (When "Dolly" eyes him as a prospective mate and invites him to dinner, the comic timing between Wingate and Swift rises to Olympian heights. Mr. Dye's humor would have made him a "natural" for those old MAMA'S FAMILY skits so popular on the old CAROL BURNETT SHOW - and I'd love to see what he could do with the beauty parlor setting in STEEL MAGNOLIAS.)

The play, though, is ultimately serious, and some of the best exchanges of dialogue brilliantly highlight the similarity between different sets of characters. At one point, a clash between "Irene" and "Luvie" is juxtaposed to one between an exasperated "Dolly" and her dysfunctional, technologically obsessed son "Dylan" (a perpetually texting and remote control-addicted Jon Castro, whose constant spewing of profanity is a source of theatrical wonder). The dialogue (or snippets of dialogue) uttered by one pair is repeated by another; it's a brilliant bit of writing. Not only are their situations more alike than they could imagine, it is implicit that ours are alike as well. Moreover, despite the much appreciated humor that Ms. Wingate and Mr. Swift bring to the proceedings, each has tender moments with "Irene" that are honest and touching and, despite the danger of being mawkish, "true" in their honesty and sincerity. (The tenderness between "Miss Irene" and "Leonard" - she can't remember his name, but trusts the kindness in his voice - is moving indeed.) Just as "Irene" has one foot on either side of the fence, the tone of the play has that kind of duality as well - serious, one moment; humorous, the next.

Perhaps the most agonized and stressed character in the play is the embittered and embattled "Luvie" (an excellent Jennie Madden). She gradually learns to accept her situation and her mother by interacting with "Dolly" and "Leonard," and, despite the fact that her mother never seemed to "love" her, at the play's end, their roles are reversed: She is able to show the love missing from her own childhood towards the childlike "Irene." As her mother bit by bit disappears, "Luvie" will be allowed to make her own journey towards her own destiny - and that is true of all the characters (and of us) as well. ("Dolly," for example, is just as "lost" as "Irene" at the end of the play - she doesn't know where she is going, and equally uncertain is "Dylan," who will be forced to manage on his own.)

Co-Directors Alice Berry and Jerre Dye have focused on their dynamite actors, and the play never flags for a second; it examines, illuminates, and, most important, entertains. The set might be simple (just a step up from OUR TOWN; I could have taken $10 to a Good Will Store and come back with more furnishings); but that hardly matters here, as the talent involved more than compensates for what is physically amiss. Photograph taken from the play program. Through November 2.

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