Playwright: Andrew Bovell
At: Famous Door at the Theatre Bldg., 1225 W. Belmont
Phone: (773) 327-5252; $16-$32
Runs through: April 18
It’s difficult to review a play that boasts a nearly flawless production—brimming with inspired and accomplished performances, brilliant and evocative creative design, and smart direction—but yet is saddled with a script that is problematic in its desire to do two things: showcase the literary cleverness of the playwright and, at the same time, explore serious issues of human connection. Andrew Bovell’s Speaking in Tongues is something of a morality play, warning its audience in a deadly serious voice about the dangers of infidelity and the resulting loss of trust in relationships. Its themes of wanting to be loved and admired, the dangers of looking for those things outside one’s primary relationship, and how sometimes even small deviations from socially acceptable behavior can have a devastating domino effect, aren’t really all that new or original. Bovell wants to tie them up in a hip, artsy package and present them as brand new. Problem is, artistic conceits can often obscure the message the artist is attempting to deliver.
That’s what happens with Speaking in Tongues, the story of several couples whose marriages are all plagued by a common chord of discontent and the hunger for something that will—as one character puts it—make them ‘feel alive.’ Bovell, who later retooled his story for the film Lantana (a far superior effort than this stage play because it paints its portrait in logical, realistic strokes and ends up all the more compelling for it), uses devices such as an opening where two scenes of coincidental infidelity are taking place at two motels; the dialogue here is almost exactly the same, demonstrating the commonality of these encounters. But here’s the rub: this too clever device forces the actors to concentrate more on getting the timing of their simultaneous lines just right rather than developing character. Throughout Speaking in Tongues, we are exposed to carefully contrived artsy devices that leave us cold instead of drawing us into the story. In the end, we are distanced from these characters are their often banal, tragic lives of coincidence and stifling circumstances. We should feel more at one with them because, as adults, we can all empathize with the core of their plights.
And that’s a shame because Famous Door, under the deft direction of Calvin MacLean, has created a haunting universe here whose images remain with us long after we leave the theater. The aptly named John Stark’s sterile set evokes coldness and disconnection with its glass cases and fragments of the world he wants us to inhabit. Julie Mack’s lighting and Roderick Peeples’ sound are also evocative and beautiful realizations of the chilling and empty places our characters find themselves trapped in. MacLean’s quartet of actors, including Larry Neumann, Jr., Elaine Rivkin, Frank Nall, and Kirsten Sahs, demonstrate astonishing range and depth, playing more than one lost character in two disparate, but thematically unified, acts. Rivkin, especially, creates a character that will forever linger in the mind. As a woman trapped on a lonely road, devoid of help and trying to keep her own nightmare demons at bay, Rivkin connects us with this character, whose death is at the heart of the play’s mystery and theme. Her simple gesture of raising a hand for help as headlights coming down the road blind her is heartbreaking and eloquent in its ominousness. With that gesture, Rivkin communicates everything about the danger, yearning, and need for connection that Speaking in Tongues is all about. It’s too bad the playwright didn’t realize that simplicity like this is more valuable than a whole sackful of artistic tricks.