Shock and awe! A thriller with secrets to be revealed, dealing with a moral problem -- not far from an education-related scandal in today’s headlines. Yet in the sparsely appointed parlor where, centered in old armchair with antimacassar and faded as the rose wallpaper, sits arthritic Mrs. K. Obviously lonely, she welcomes us as her guests. (We can’t help but respond to Donna Gerdes’ warmth, her portrayal of need for human contact.)
A widow of a 36 year childless marriage to a brilliant foreigner, she declines to identify his origins except as minority (with a generally unpronounceable name) and raised amid majority atrocities. We feel she has more that’s unspeakable to relate. But she tells how she became a teacher of children at her shawl-draped, upright spinnet. It’s next to a wall of shelves with hardcover books and busts of composers but no photos or personal items.
She sheds a light of memory on the time she found a book with her pupils’ names and decided to use their contact info. One rare lucky dialing to Mary Fields (impressive Megan DeLay), memorable for working crosswords with Mr. K. in the kitchen before her lessons, leads to an invitation to drop in when Mary visits her nearby parents. Unlike many who refuse Mrs. K’s subsequent calls or are rude, Mary actually follows up. Why does she have such trouble apologizing for having left lessons so abruptly, for her part in a last “trainwreck” of a recital?
The mystery of Mr. K. as a child and later interacting with children deepens. It bottoms out with the appearance of excellent Christopher Swan’s anguished but at first seemingly normal Michael. Once considered the prodigy every teacher hopes for, he’s been calling but hanging up. But that’s not been the only contact.
On the piano now Michael demonstrates perfect pitch and auditory memory. And what he remembers, besides music, completely unsettles Mrs. K. Was she aware of what went on in the kitchen? Why are Michael’s revelations so terrifying? What further commerce between student and teacher can there be? And how about Mary? What exactly does she remember and is it important?
Director Jim Wise has carefully paced Julia Cho’s fine plotting and had Richard Cannon create its perfect setting to develop, with only relevant props like a dial phone and older TV. That the kitchen isn’t shown adds to the mysteries hidden there.
Michael Pasquini’s lighting, with sporadic indications of past intruding on present reinforced by Steve Lemke’s sound, gets appropriately darker throughout.
Banyan always seems to find the deepest strengths its casts can muster. In this case, it has plumbed the finest of Donna Gerdes’ with no less than a career-capping performance. She and her fellow actors leave us in awe.
