Regional

I See My Bones

 (Playwrights Theater, Madison, N.J.; 114 seats; $17 top)

By ROBERT L. DANIELS

A Playwrights Theater of New Jersey presentation of a play in two acts by Kitty Chen. Directed by John Pietrowski.
 
Cast: Les J.N. Mau (Peter Kuo), Peg Small (Cynthia Potts), Georgia Southcotte (Anna Perkins), Virginia Downing (Helen Buckler).
 

The adventurous Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, dedicated to the development of new works, celebrates its 10th anniversary with three world premiere workshop productions and five staged readings of new plays. First on the Madison Stage is Kitty Chen's insightful drama "I See My Bones." The play focuses on four senior citizens coming to terms with the final curtain in a retirement community. It is a thoughtful autumnal chamber piece.

The central character is a 75-year-old of Asian ancestry, a former biology teacher who envisions a better world and documents his thoughts and ideas in a daily diary. Peter Kuo (Les J.N. Mau) incorporates into his imagined future the fanciful suggestions of communal residents: the abolishment of old age, high heels, accumulative trash and rudeness.

Feeling useless and worthless, Kuo is cheered by the arrival of Cynthia Potts (Peg Small), who is frightened and lost in the labyrinth of her new surroundings. A gentle courtship ensues, culminating in a moonlit dance. The friendship is ultimately discouraged by Cynthia's cynical sister (Georgia Southcotte), a former practicing doctor who lacks the sensitivity and sentimental grace of her aged companions. The noblest, wisest and wittiest geriatric is Helen Buckler (Virginia Downing). Feeling like a piece of luggage, the former voice teacher is confined to a wheel chair, and, after several invasive tests, confesses to "familiarity with all kinds of instruments."

Helen is the play's most appealing character, and her irreverent humor is welcome. With the grim reaper ever close at hand, she reminds her friends of those who died. One went for a walk and never came back, while another sat down to a bridge game and never got up again. Helen cherishes her musical memories, and the idea of dying is dismissed with "the thought of rolling around in the operatic heavens makes me sick!"

Chen's often wordy and repetitive play is a work in progress, and the playwright would do well to supply the feisty Helen with additional wit and wisdom. The play's finale is blurred with the image of a metaphorical Japanese maple tree. There is a lovely play lying just beneath the surface.

John Pietrowski has guided his actors through varied emotional plateaus from sentiment and loneliness to fear and anger. Much of the play is delivered in monologues, each softly lit by Christopher Gorselnik. The staging is spare, with a few functional pieces of furniture on a two-level platform, backed by an abstract design.

An earlier play by Chen, "Eating Chicken Feet," was developed by Playwrights Theater in a staged reading and was produced in 1993 by the Pan Asian Repertory Co. in association with the Women's Project and Prods., who have also expressed interest in "I See My Bones."

Set, Ron Kadri; costumes, Bruce Goodrich; lighting, Christopher Gorselnik; stage manager, David Waggett. Producing artistic director, Pietrowski. Opened, reviewed Sept. 28, 1995. Running time: 2 HOURS, 25 MIN.