Sam Shepard’s new play, Heartless,
at the Pershing Square Signature Theater Center is definitely not going to be everyone’s
taste. However, if you enjoy slightly
surrealist black comedy, you could hardly do better. There isn’t much of a plot, besides the
exploration of family ties in a dysfunctional family.
.
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| Lois Smith as Mable Murphy in Heartless |
Lois Smith plays Mable Murphy, the wheel chair bound matriarch
of a Hollywood Hills family - with a view of the Valley, not the good
side. Mable enjoys suffering from old
age, which is treated with pain pills and antidepressants. With a full time nurse, and a daughter that
dotes on her, Mable rules the roost. Ms.
Smith commands the stage with a presence just as Mable commands the house.
.
The one daughter who rebels is Sally, played by Julianne
Nicholson. When we first set eyes on
her, we see a massive scar that runs the length of her torso. She was recipient of a heart transplant when
a child and her life has been influenced by it ever since. She is always reminded of her physical
fragility, but the experience also gives her emotional freedom to act on
impulse, even callously, towards her family.
.
Sally has brought home a much older man who is going through
what seems to be a mid-life crisis. Gary
Cole plays Roscoe, a sixty-something professor of Latin Literature, in the
middle of a divorce. Roscoe is the
catalyst, who upsets the family dynamic by his presence. But Roscoe doesn’t have any control over the
situation. Mr. Cole eloquently slides
from smug to confused to resigned over the course of the play.
.
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| Gary Cole and Julianne Nicholson in Heartless |
The “good daughter” is Lucy, played by Jenny Bacon. This role is written a bit too broad; her
anger and sarcasm too superficial. Ms. Bacon does good work trying to ground
Lucy, but the character is too inconsistent to be totally believable. The physical look of Lucy is too obvious and frumpy, and
it is surprising since the rest of the design (costume, lighting and scenic) is excellent.
.
The final character is the nurse Elizabeth, played by Betty
Gilpin. It is Ms. Gilpin that brings the
surreal to the reality, and then in the second half amps it up. Ms. Gilpin and Lois Smith do a great job of
walking the tightrope of tragedy and black comedy, firmly keeping the story
from crashing out of control.
.
The Heartless' story locale and conversational asides constantly remind
the audience of film and the movie industry. Each of the female characters behaves as if they are starring
in their private movie genre. Gary Cole
as Roscoe is alone in normality, and the question that presents itself; is he
any better off?
.
Directed by Daniel Aukin, Heartless takes a while to settle
into a rhythm – which is a function of the story. If you can accept the artificial and unrealistic situations,
Heartless is a crazy fun ride. But be warned, many people don't enjoy that experience.
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Heartless
Playwright: Sam Shepard
Director: Daniel Aukin
Cast: Jenny Bacon, Gary Cole, Betty Gilpin, Julianne Nicholson, Lois Smith
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