A world premiere of The Dig, by Milwaukee playwright Marie Kohler, opened recently at Rennaisance Theaterworks. Staged in the intimate, 100-seat Studio Theater, The Dig is a family mystery that holds the audience's attention until the final curtain.
In the story, a young girl named Mattie tells of her childhood in northwest Illinois. She recalls a feeling of soaring while sitting on the shoulders of her older brother, Jamie. He also enchants her with tales from Greek mythology. With a mother too ill to care for her and a father preoccupied with labor trouble at his business, Mattie clings to her brother for emotional support. Jamie becomes a young archeologist and sets off on a college-sponsored trip to Lebanon. He will dig for artifacts as part of a close-knit team of archaeologists.
At the time of his departure, Mattie is devastated to learn that he will be gone for an entire year. To make matters worse, Jamie succumbs to a bout of schizophrenia at the dig. He withdraws even more when he returns to Illinois. Jamie, once brimming with hope and enthusiasm, is transformed into someone Mattie barely recognizes. Mattie, now 14, is devastated by her brother's mental state. Their adult lives are changed forever by the unexpected appearance of a museum curator. She demands to know details regarding the discovery of a pot that Jamie unearthed years ago at the dig. This begins a mystery that leads Mattie to question whether Jamie is as virtuous as she remembers.
Eventually, the play divides into three time periods: the present (with an adult Jamie), 1998 a critical period of their lives, and in the past (with the youthful Jamie). They appear simultaneously in various combinations. The audience can actually see events as they unfold at "the dig" while, years later, Mattie struggles to extract information about the trip from her reticent adult brother. When the adult brother responds to Mattie's questions by reciting nonsensical nursery rhymes and passages from Greek mythology, her frustration becomes explosive.
The acting talent is on an exceptional level, as it must be to balance this multi-layered drama. Norma Saldivar's sensitive direction hits all the right notes. She allows Mattie the freedom to experience a wide range of emotions (that could be even wider). As Mattie, noted actor Catherine Lynn Davis gives an excellent performance that could reach even greater emotional depths. Too often, her character comes off as shrill and inflexible.
As the young Jamie, Paul Hurley is every sibling's dream of an older brother. As he gently teases his sister, we see a real emotional bond between them. This is a distinct contrast to Mattie's relationship with the adult Jamie (Brian Mani). It's clear she cannot accept the person who emotionally "abandoned" her so many years ago. Mani takes a difficult role as someone who is mentally unstable and creates an exceptionally sympathetic character. Two other actors do too much doubling to be effective. Although the play is being promoted as a sympathetic portrait of mental illness, it could easily be translated into other stressful situations, such as going to war, or the sudden death of a loved one. Of course, most people don't generally revert to talking in nursery rhymes. But one can see how personality changes can be difficult for others to comprehend and accept.
The Dig is a must-see show that deserves to have a long life after this first production.
below: Brian Robert Mani & Catherine Lynn Davis in The Dig. 
