Review: HAPPY DAYS at Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative

Winnie is buried up her waist in sand. A bell rings indicating it’s time for her to wake up and fill time until the bell rings for sleep. She has a bag full of all of her essentials – toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, hat, revolver – which she brings out and uses at planned intervals. She narrates all of her actions, thoughts, and memories to Willie, her husband, who occasionally responds but mostly ignores her. He isn’t buried, but his movement is apparently restricted to crawling in and out of a hole.

It’s unclear how long she has been there – not forever, as she speaks of the before times, but long enough that she has resigned herself to the situation. It’s an awful life, but Winnie attempts to make the best of it, meticulously organizing her day as a way to feel some semblance of control, and prattling away to Willie. If he responds, it’s a happy day.

Samuel Beckett’s 1961 absurdist masterpiece HAPPY DAYS, now being presented by the Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative, is a tragicomic meditation on how to hang onto our humanity as time marches us slowly toward death. It’s equal parts LOL funny and deeply depressing, and it’s eerily relevant to our current post-pandemic world that is also burning.

Diane Kondrat, who plays Winnie, is superb. Her performance deepens the play’s ambiguity. What happened to Winnie? Was she a victim of some sort of environmental villainy? Or did a lifetime of inaction lead her to literal immobility? Kondrat reminded me of the proverbial boiling frog – I imagine her life contracted so slowly that one day she just stopped being able to move. But still, even with death staring her in the face, she fights for her life, small as it is.

HAPPY DAYS is not an easy play. It’s weird and stumbling, and difficult to wrap your mind around. But those who do will be amply rewarded. I thought it was excellent. Plus, it’s the best use I can think of for what used to be the Victoria’s Secret in Lloyd Center.

HAPPY DAYS is running at Lloyd Center through September 9. More details and tickets here.

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