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In 1989, Greenwich Village was still the kind of place where a beautiful old lady like Gladys Green could own and run an art gallery for unknown artists who never sold a painting to poor customers who never came. Played with great warmth, sensitivity and good humor by the legendary Elaine May in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery on Broadway, Gladys was once a practicing lawyer with many clients and a lively social life. These days, she is happy to have a lost soul from time to time.
Don Bowman is one of those lost souls. Played with a gentle flippancy, with some hesitation, Michael Cera, Don is an endearing painter, without talent, who seems to have no idea that Gladys is a little, well, apart. His verbal hesitation (the names elude him) and his general inaccuracy do not seem to register at all with him. What stands out clearly is his willingness to mount an exhibition of his work.
"I like helping young people," says Gladys. "Whatever they want, it's a bit of luck. But they do not have anyone to help them. Yes, she is really so kind and Don rewards her kindness for the society she aspires to. "All this is like a dream come true for me," he exclaims in a poignant way, at the opening of which no soul is shown. "I have been waiting for this day all my life."
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All in all, the poignant character is a little heavy, even under the thoughtful direction of Lila Neugebauer. But the feelings are sincere (Lonergan said he wrote the play about his aging grandmother) and the emotions they elicit are powerful. In fact, it's a difficult piece to look at – like a play that starts with a seriously ill person and stubbornly follows it to the grave. In fact, if they gave a prize to the most depressing game of the season, it would win.
To be honest, there are moments of relief when attention focused on Gladys at the gallery expands to her daughter Ellen Fine, played by Joan Allen (lucky!), And to her second husband, Howard Fine (David Cromer, the perfect meeting). The scenes of their apartment on Wednesday night, the night Gladys comes to dinner, give the public a well-deserved break by letting us know that someone is watching over the old lady. Even his grandson, Daniel Reed (Lucas Hedges), who tells the events directly to the public, deserves our affection because of his concern for his grandmother.
Following the path of Gladys' decline, Lonergan also follows the decline of the Village as a very unified neighborhood where people look at each other. "The whole neighborhood is changing," says Gladys, not realizing she's the person who's undergoing the most dramatic changes. The changes are real, but gradual, and May is most apt to note the additional losses that are gradually erasing Gladys' personality.
When she has the opportunity, the actress is also happy to show us that Gladys is still a kind of spirit. The insensitive observation of his son-in-law that "it is not fun to grow old" provokes the reply: "Why do you always tell me that? Nobody wants to hear that! It's not a useful thing to say. May prepare a meal from painfully funny moments like this one.
Gladys' family, who describes themselves as "liberal atheist Jewish intellectuals from the Upper West Side," is even more disconcerted by its deterioration, as it suggests its own mortality. After talking with his own parents, Howard is disconcerted: "So, everything is fine for the elderly, is not it?" He said. "If you do not lose your marbles and one of you does not die young, you grow old together and you torture each other to death."
This family does not lack sympathy, although Daniel seems to be the most moved by watching his grandmother spin. "His mind was broken in pieces and the person she was previously in was not around for a long time," he observes. "But the pieces were still his pieces."
It's a beautiful writing, so hard to hear and completely assimilate in a game that will guarantee you to tear yourself apart – piece by piece, as Lonergan might say.
Broadway Review: Kenneth Lonergan's "The Waverly Gallery" with Lucas Hedges
Theater of gold; 787 seats; $ 149 upstairs. Opened on Oct. 25, 2018. Revised Oct. 19. Duration: 2 HOURS 15 MINUTES.
Production:
A presentation by Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Columbia Live Stage, Eric Falkenstein, Suzanne Grant, James L. Nederlander, Universal Theater Group, John Gore Organization, Len Blavatnik, Peter May, Stephanie McClelland, Benjamin Lowy, Al Nocciolino, Patty Baker, Jamie deRoy, Wendy Federman, Barbara H. Freitag, Heni Koenigsberg, David Mirvish, True Love Productions, Executive Producers Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner and John Johnson from a two-act play by Kenneth Lonergan.
Creative:
Led by Lila Neugebauer. Sets, David Zinn; costumes, Ann Roth; lighting, Brian MacDevitt; his, Leon Rothenberg; projections, Tal Yarden; production manager, Charles Means.
throw:
Elaine May, Lucas Hedges, Allen Joan, Michael Cera and David Cromer.
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