Regional
Woman in Mind
(South Coast Repertory; 507 seats; $32 top)
Susan - Kandis Chappel
Bill - Hal Landon Jr.
Andy - Nicholas Hormann
Lucy - Amy Ryan
Tony - Ron Boussom
Gerald - Mitchell Edmonds
Muriel - Marnie Crossen
Rick - Eric Woodall
A bump on the head from a garden rake sends Susan (Chappel) on an internal journey that takes her back and forth from her outwardly tranquil life as the wife of a country vicar (Mitchell Edmonds) to the joyous torment of her inner life.
Along the way, Susan is torn between the delights of her imaginary family, including a dashing and doting husband (Nicholas Hormann), a vivacious and loving daughter (Amy Ryan) and a lively, sporting brother (Ron Boussom), and the daily torments of the real people around her.
Latter group includes not only the boorish vicar, but also a peevish sister-in-law (Marnie Crossen) and an itinerant son (Eric Woodall) who visits after not having spoken to his parents for two years.
The bumbling guide on Susan's trip through her imagination is the local country doctor, Bill (Hal Landon Jr.), who comforts her in her disorientation but can offer no answers to her deeper despair.
Ayckbourn's plays are complicated, and this piece is no exception, with at least two levels of so-called reality, and lots of disparate dramatic threads that are eventually tied into an exquisite bundle.
What holds the play together is the character of Susan, whose search is not for truth or beauty, but for simply a place to exist as herself, even if it must be in the corners of her own mind.
Chappel is quiet and confident in her performance; her suffering is real, truthful and dramatic. And best of all, audience laughs along with her pain.
Landon is also excellent as the kindly but confused doctor, finding the passion of this self-deprecating soul.
Woodall shows great promise in his California stage debut as the intense, gawky son. The rest of the ensemble cast are also good, although the acting intensity sometimes lags, as do the Brit accents.
David Emmes's direction is steady and subtle in finding the nuances of the piece. Sets by Cliff Faulkner and lighting by Paulie Jenkins are noteworthy in evoking the changing realities of the play.
Sets, Cliff Faulkner; costumes, Ann Bruice; lighting, Paulie Jenkins; music and sound, Michael Roth. Opened May 29, 1992.
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