| I
was prepared to be shaken by Joan Didion’s one-woman
rendition of her bestselling memoir, “The Year of Magical
Thinking.”
Dealing
with loss and the unexpected is certainly part of everyone’s
life, whether it be a natural disaster, a setback in one’s
health, the betrayal of a friend or spouse or the death of
someone we love.
Change
and adaptation characterize human life, and though we all know
this, we still struggle with the shock and disbelief we
experience when it happens to us personally.
Joan
Didion, a very successful playwright, novelist, screenwriter
and essayist was married to John Gregory Dunne, an aspiring
writer who worked for Time magazine. They adopted a girl, and
the three of them were leading what many would consider a very
idyllic life.
Suddenly
everything changed. Shortly after their daughter Quintana’s
marriage, the young bride became gravely ill and slipped into
a coma. While Joan and John were reeling from this unforeseen
trauma, John suffered a massive heart attack in their
apartment during dinner. He did not recover. Shortly
thereafter, Quintana also died.
“The
Year of Magical Thinking” follows Joan’s journey from 2003
to 2005 as she tries to cope with a life that bears little
resemblance to the one she had previously enjoyed. As we
accompany her, we ponder what we would do in similar
circumstances.
Elizabeth
Norment skillfully draws us in as she quietly begins Joan’s
jarring story. But the problem is that there is a sameness
about the show, not enough drama, not enough contrast to
continue to hold our interest.
Joan
Didion is a clever woman with an edgy sense of humor. She
takes control of situations, and she’s a problem solver
So
how does she react when she can no longer control or change
anything? That is the crux of this piece. What does one do
when one has to deal with the inexorable fact of death,
especially the death of a child one had always promised to
protect or a husband one had grown to love so deeply.
The
book from which this play was adapted was a bestseller in
2005, and the play was nominated for a Tony award in 2008.
Vanessa
Redgrave was chosen to enact the first showing. Elizabeth
Norment, remembered for her work at the Milwaukee Repertory
Theater in “Wit” and “The Night is a Child,” (to name
just two of her successes here) seemed a perfect fit for this
demanding role.
But
somehow, despite the horrendous losses Didion suffered in such
quick succession, I was not moved by this re-enactment of her
situation, and I should have been.
Punching
the storyline up a notch and making some judicious cuts would
have heightened this drama.
Directed
by John Sipes, “The Year of Magical Thinking” forces us to
re-live or anticipate our own losses and realize the
precariousness of human existence. We must either face that
fact or, if we prefer, engage in magical thinking.
The
show runs through Nov. 8 at the Rep’s Steimke Theatre. Check
for times and tickets by calling (414) 224-9490.
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