David Hare's Amy's View contains much more than her statement, "You have to give love without any conditions at all. Just give it. And one day you will be rewarded. One day you will get it back." The play is about conflict. Resolutions are rare, as are harmonies.
Amy is living with Dominic, pregnant, and may be heading towards marriage. Their differences may outweigh the commonalities. Amy's relationship with her mother, Esme, gyrates from good to indifferent to bad to awful, and many points in between. Esme's relationship with Dominic doesn't exist. Esme has a sort-of relationship with neighbor and widower, Frank, a financial advisor and Lloyd's-of-London agent. Grandmother Evelyn ages dramatically as the play progresses providing an impact to the passage of time.
Amy's View is a study in non-communication, faulty communication, and often baseless opinions and rationalizations. Still, I found the play to be disjointed. Plot points popped up with absolutely no setup. Esme hits financial disaster with an investment in Lloyd's of London. Amy's relationship with Dominic takes savage unexplained turns. Neighbor Frank has little introduction. Relationships vacillate wildly with weak provocation. And Hare takes well over two hours to make all of this happen.
None of this stops an excellent cast from taking on a challenge and providing the audience with good drama, some delightful humor, and strong characterizations. Rosina Reynolds, Esme, is sensational. The play covers a period of 15 years from 1979 to 1994, as Esme's career totters off the stage and into a limbo, followed by that dreaded medium, television, and finally back on to the stage. Her story is more sad than happy as the people around her leave her. Reynolds is totally convincing. Even still, was Esme's view correct?
Daughter Amy, Amanda Sitton, has her own relationship problems, both with Dominic and Esme. She flounders through life drawn by the will of others. Sitton handles the internal and external conflict professionally, making Amy's conflicts easily understandable. Brendan Fords's Dominic, at times, seems totally unmotivated, primarily by the way the character is written.
Craig Huisenga, as Frank, has a most difficult task. He fleshes out a haphazardly written character almost to the point of giving Frank meaning, plus a nice touch of humanity. At best, though, Frank remains a shadow. Dagmar Krause Fields is charming as family matriarch, Evelyn Thomas, mother of Esme's deceased husband. Evelyn efficiently runs the household in Pangbourne, an hour outside London, for Esme, who was performing in the West End. Field's character ages significantly over a period of 14 years. Her third act performance is noteworthy for its subtlety.
In Act Four, we finally meet Tom Zohar, as Toby Cole -- a young actor. One wishes Hare had written him just a few more lines, but he gives an enjoyable performance.
Marty Burnett's set is at his usual standard of excellence, as is Mike Durst's lighting. Jeanne Reith's costumes define the characters in terms of the change in their economic status. She gives each character a distinct persona relating to their mental state in a given act.
Director Ellenstein has done an excellent job with a difficult script. Admittedly, I've only scratched the surface of this complex production.
