Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman star in 'Duet for One.'
An Almeida Theater presentation of play in two acts by Tom Kempinski. Directed by Matthew Lloyd.
Stephanie Abrahams - Juliet Stevenson
Dr. Feldmann - Henry Goodman
A dramatized battle between psychiatrist and patient, the unlocking of past events to unblock the present and future... sound familiar? It could be "Lady in the Dark" or "Equus" minus the horses, but, in fact, it's Tom Kempinski's 1980 hit "Duet for One." In Matthew Lloyd's neatly phrased revival, Henry Goodman seeks to administer the talking cure to Juliet Stevenson's beleaguered musician. Kempinski's efficient handling of his themes remains theatrically effective, but the production's good taste actually exposes the play's contrivances.
Stevenson portrays former violin virtuoso Stephanie Abrahams, struggling against the creeping ravages of multiple sclerosis which have forced her to stop playing. Persuaded by her unseen pianist husband, she begins a series of visits to Dr. Feldmann (Goodman) to seek "support or guidance."
You don't have to have been in therapy to be able to guess the play's progress from warily cordial to increasingly confrontational. Stevenson's initially bright and carefully tight performance indicates Stephanie's level of high-functioning denial, a condition that promptly has Feldmann prescribing her anti-depressants.
Across five further sessions, Feldmann's acuity forces Stephanie to make connections between past events and her crippling present fears. More unexpectedly, her highly charged responses force Feldmann to appear to drop his necessarily disengaged manner to reveal an equal passion for his own professional beliefs.
Partly inspired by celebrated cellist Jacqueline du Pre (also the subject of the 1998 movie "Hilary and Jackie"), "Duet" contains potentially upsetting material that walks a fine line between due sentiment and the sentimental. In order to avoid the trap of the latter, Lloyd ensures that his actors never teeter into excess, maintaining scrupulous control over the material.
That (over)extends into Lez Brotherston's costumes. It's fair that Stephanie's state of mind would affect the way she dresses, but Stevenson's hair and costumes -- overly neat for denial mode, slovenly when she's distressed -- serve as too-insistent signposts.
Stevenson's carefully calibrated performance keeps a tight rein on possible emoting, resulting in considerable power at the major climaxes when her character confronts her fear and loss. The psychiatrist's role has fewer opportunities for display, but while holding himself back for his own explosion, Goodman fills his performance with meticulously assembled tics and touches.
Yet there's a certain lack of spontaneity to both mildly over-attenuated performances, as if each of them is waiting rather than listening.
There's also a minor problem in the handling of the play's implicit Judaism. Stephanie speaks slightingly of Feldmann's German accent, which Goodman lays on thickly to the point of comedy, accompanied as it is with an assortment of Yiddish shrugs and other shtick.
By contrast, Stevenson is patently un-Jewish, yet her character's name is Abrahams, her married name is Liebermann and, to finish an important speech about the meaning of life ending in a gag about chicken soup, she suddenly adopts an American-Jewish accent. You're immediately aware of the actor being at one remove from the role.
The transfer of the original production proved a West End winner, but its too neatly contrived revelations in a culture far more conversant with therapy contributed to its Broadway failure. Almost three decades later, mildly updated with references to CDs and laptops but no change to its somewhat prim tone, the fact that it's a two-hander (plus enthusiastic local reviews) may well return the play to the West End.
Sets and costumes, Lez Brotherston; lighting, Jason Taylor; sound, John Leonard; production stage manager, Laura Flowers. Opened, reviewed Jan. 29, 2009. Running time: 2 HOURS, 25 MIN.
Contact David Benedict at
benedictdavid@mac.com
Date in print: Mon., Feb. 2, 2009