Images: 
Total Rating: 
***
Previews: 
November 29, 2015
Ended: 
December 20, 2015
Country: 
USA
State: 
Wisconsin
City: 
Milwaukee
Company/Producers: 
Milwaukee Chamber Theater
Theater Type: 
Regional
Theater: 
Broadway Theater Center - Studio Theater
Theater Address: 
148 North Broadway
Phone: 
414-291-7800
Website: 
milwaukeechambertheatre.com
Running Time: 
90 min
Genre: 
Drama
Author: 
George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Dorothy Parker
Director: 
Paula Suozzi
Review: 

In this intriguingly conceived combination of three short plays, two of Milwaukee’s best-known actors–now a real-life married couple–share the stage. Or, to be more precise, they set it on fire. Despite the playwrights represented here being some of the worlds finest – George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht and Algonquin Round Table fixture Dorothy Parker – the names that will draw audiences are those of the actors themselves.

James Pickering and Tami Workentin have been known and admired by local theater audiences for years. They married in 2013 following the death of Pickering’s wife (also a well-known Milwaukee actor) and Workentin’s divorce. Love Stories is their first onstage appearance together since their marriage. This puts the audience in an unusual position. Many will be as eager to learn about this real-life marriage as the ones portrayed in the plays. To accommodate this interest, a framework of sorts has been added to the production. The plays are being staged in a rehearsal hall. Before and after each segment, the actors morph back into their own selves. They interact with the stage crew and an unseen stage manager. They squabble about things such as the “right” way to load the dishwasher, who was the last person to walk the dogs, etc. Since they are newlyweds, the barbs they lodge at each other are so soft that they cannot inflict more than a minor, easily forgotten wound. Or perhaps it lies in the fact that these seasoned actors have left their youth behind many years ago.

These three one-acts have been presented previously, in a different order and with different actors. Credit goes to Jennifer Uphoff Gray for the original concept and direction. (she is now the artistic director of another area theater company.)

The three one-acts start off on a strong note with the witty repartee of playwright George Bernard Shaw. In Village Wooing, an older, educated “man of letters” meets a young woman onboard a cruise. While he travels the world often, and behaves in a rather jaded fashion, the woman displays the opposite reaction. This is a “pinch-me” experience for her. She lives modestly in a quiet village, and the only reason she has booked passage is because she came into some money. Her father encouraged her to blow it all on a fancy cruise. So she did.

Romance blossoms on the waves, right? Not exactly. In her own humble way, the woman is far more wise and worldly than the travel writer. He seems eager to get rid of her onboard ship. But things take an abrupt change some time later, when they are onshore and meet again in her village.

Both actors have the capacity to weave through Shaw’s intricate dialogue like butter. Pickering, in particular, has a voice with a melodious flair that he uses to great advantage here. Workentin, perhaps the more malleable of the two, has a voice that is sometimes breathless and often excitable (this is especially apparent in the final one-act). Together, they give a heartfelt and tender performance that is definitely worth a visit to the intimate Studio Theater in Milwaukee’s Broadway theater complex.

The final play, which also brims with humor, involves a married couple on their wedding night. Here We Are is by Dorothy Parker. As the couple starts talking about the wedding ceremony and reception, it is obvious from their conversation that this marriage hasn’t yet been “conceived.” Too afraid to confront the elephant in the room, their conversation veers to ridiculous, far-fetched subjects. Suozzi’s appropriately fast-paced direction sweeps their conversation along. The result gives the audience some old-fashioned belly laughs.

The middle piece, Bertolt Brecht’s The Jewish Wife, doesn’t seem to fit well with the other two one-acts. In it, a wife decides to leave her husband before he is ostracized by the Nazis. During most of the one-act, she addresses the husband’s chair and practices her speech to him. This time alone also gives her a chance to strengthen her resolve. Eventually, the husband returns. It is somewhat unclear whether she feels her husband has rejected her and the marriage is ending. Or has she is making a personal sacrifice to save his career – and perhaps, his life? Her husband’s reaction indicates he is either: 1) in denial or, 2) perhaps saying “the right thing” to make it easier for the wife’s departure. In any case, it’s clear that once she walks out their front door, the two never will see each other again.

Adding the rehearsal-hall element to this production was a smart move. It forces audience members to use their imagination to “complete” the environment of each one-act. As is typical of rehearsals in general, the actors use an odd collection of set pieces, costumes and props to substitute for “the real thing” that will be used when the show-within-a-show is ready for opening night. However, the real-life love shown here does indeed seem to be “the real thing” between these two actors, who found happiness together after a time of great tragedy for each.

Cast: 
James Pickering, Tami Workentin.
Technical: 
Set: R.H. Graham; Costumes: Ellen Kozak; Lighting: Holly Blomquist; Sound: Lukas Klopton.
Critic: 
Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed: 
December 2015