Review: WELL at 1st Stage

Why are some people well and others unwell? Playwright Lisa Kron's Well, asks the hard questions. In this so-called "multi-character theatrical exploration," Kron (Adurey Bertaux) is the star of this play-within-a-play which chronicles her real-life experiences growing up in Lansing, Michigan in the 1960s.

It begins like this: Lisa, an avowed solo-performer, (she makes that clear several times) steps out of her comfort zone to write and star in a play about wellness. But to be clear, Well is not, repeat, not a play about her and her mother. But then again, it kinda is. Case in point, Lisa's mom, Ann (Elizabeth Pierotti), precedes Lisa onstage. From the moment the House opens, Ann is enthroned onstage on her Lazy-Boy. It's almost like her mom haunts every aspect of her subconscious... But this is not, repeat, not a play about Lisa and her mother.

Bertaux (Lisa) is a capable tourist guide for this topsy-turvy play. Statuesque, with an easy smile, and authoritative presence, Bertaux is very like-able. She has the bearing of a psychiatrist turned tourist guide. But she's not as likable as Pierotti (Ann), whose genuinely kindly demeanor is a comforting presence. Of course, this is deliberate; according to Lisa, her mom has always been the kind of person to whom people gravitate.

Lisa has brought us (the audience) to her mom's living room to see the woman who healed a neighborhood but cannot heal herself. Ann is chronically fatigued, a symptom of "allergies." But Lisa is critical of Ann's self-diagnosis. Lisa herself was once sick but now she's better. If Lisa can get better, why can't her mom?

Half of the stage is a cross-section of Ann's living room. Ann's living room is very beige and comfy-cozy, full of knick-knacks: the very definition of organized chaos. Set Designer Luciana Stecconi and Props Designers Deb Crerie and Lay Rzada's set is realistically detailed. Michael Bloom makes his 1st Stage debut as Director with costume design by Danielle Preston, lighting design by Catherine Girardi, and sound design by Kenny Neal.

Ann is a contradiction that Lisa has trouble wrapping her head around. Lisa idolizes her mother as a "force-of-nature," a staunch defender of civil rights and a catalyst for neighborhood integration. She utilizes actors (Laurie Artesi, Edward Christian, Marquis D. Gibson, Lolita Marie) and the empty half of the stage to depict montage moments from her childhood.

Ann's constant refrain throughout is that Lisa is oversimplifying events or even omitting events to allow for a clarity that never actually existed. For Ann, the events of their lives depicted in the play are more nuanced. She rejects Lisa's boiled down versions of events. Even Lisa's subconscious won't let her get away it unscathed: a 9-year-old neighborhood bully, a black girl, from her past (Marie) pops up at inopportune moments to taunt her and pull her hair. Is this a reminder to Lisa that racial tension remained in the neighborhood despite her mom's work, or is this just a case of a mean little girl picking on a shy child?

The play is deliberately unstructured and more than a little confusing, existing on multiple planes of reality. The actors themselves admit to being confused. Well eventually spins out of Lisa's control. The lack of a neat and tidy revelation is a little unsettling, but, hey, that's true-to-life. After all, is it even possible to answer two lifetimes worth of questions in one 100-minute play? As Lisa observes, "this avant-garde meta-theatrical thing can really bite you in the ass."

1st Stage is a happy exception to the stylized glitz and glam of many of DC's larger theatres. Fairy lights mark the entrance to this unprepossessing theatre located in an out-of-the-way strip mall in Tyson's Corner. I've said all of this before but I always feel like I've stumbled upon a well-guarded secret. For me, it's a no-brainer; I'm always happy to visit 1st Stage.

Running Time: 1 hours and 40 minutes (no intermission)

Advisory: Adult language

WELL plays through April 23rd at 1ST Stage located at 1524 Spring Hill Rd, Tysons Corner, VA 22102. For tickets call (703) 854-1856 or click here.

Photo credit: Elizabeth Pierotti and Audrey Bertaux in "Well" at 1st Stage. The show runs through April 23, 2017 in Tysons Corner. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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