One would hardly think that a play dealing with cancer would be an occasion for laughter.Yet playwright Andrea Lepcio has managed to pull off the feat of making such a subject entertaining as well as thoughtful and moving.
Two sisters, unusually close, are both struck a major blow when it is learned that Lauren (Deirdre O'Connell) has discovered a small lump in her breast. It should have been noticed earlier by the doctors, but the medics goofed. (Where have we heard this before?).
Lauren has strong emotional support from her younger sister Eloisa (J. Smith-Cameron), who loves Lauren enough to consider giving up her career dreams, to which she's come so close to attaining. Might her goal now be impossible?
The play covers territory that might usually be thought of as untouchable. After all, what playgoer want to be taken into a slew of doctors' offices, to be confronted with unpleasant medical testing, to be in on a lot of bad news, often delivered in a cold and off-handed manner?
But it's a tribute to Lepcio's talent that she has found a way of presenting the material in a way that draws in the audience and makes the material palatable. She makes it all somehow funny. Oh, not ruthlessly so. The two central characters are always aware of Lauren's plight. But the doctors and other medical folks can be so impersonal. An assortment of them is portrayed, vividly and with enormous energy, by only two actors: the male Debargo Sanyal and the woman, Lori Funk. Their skill in "nailing" different personality types is admirable, particularly as these quick changes present lightning-fast snippets of events.
The playing style of the two supporting actors is extreme, cartoon-like, which takes the curse off the seriousness of the material. We laugh at their sometimes cruel antics, but simultaneously feel the underlying sadness, as Lauren's cancer progresses and spreads, from her breast, to her bones, to her liver.
Smith-Cameron's Eloisa, who skillfully serves as both narrator and character, has left the world of well-paying finance for a new start as a writer. Now, with her sister's illness, it seems as though she may have to give up on her dream. Tension mounts as she endeavors to meet the requirements of her tough courses as a grad student, between moving mountains to be at Lauren's side at her next medical crisis.
Lauren, played with great warmth by O'Connell, always puts a good face on things. Whatever may be happening to her at the moment she takes in stride. One senses that she senses that the inevitable will come to pass, but why be miserable about it? Living in the now is what counts.
Always at the center of the play is the close, rich relationship of the two sisters. That appears to be the buoy that both of them cling to. The emotionally charged, rapidly paced journey is presented in ninety intermissionless minutes, under the perceptive direction of Stephen Golux. Production elements are seamlessly interwoven to serve the piece: Adam Koch's fluid sets, lighting by Aaron Copp, costumes by Matthew Hemesath, and sound by Jessica Paz.
(pictured: J. Smith-Cameron, Deirdre O'Connell, Lori Funk, Debargo Sanyal
