LOS
ANGELES TIMES
March
12, 2004
THEATER
BEAT
It
lurches, it lumbers, it's several rewrites and rehearsals short of
stage-worthy. But there's a seed of promise, and flashes of genuine insight, in
June August's pat but not entirely predictable new play "Coming To
Life," about a support group at a senior residential facility.
When
ramrod-straight psych student Linda (Felicia Wilson) arrives to host weekly
sessions with five older women as part of her doctoral research about "the
challenges of aging," we know exactly where we're going: down Repressed Memory
Lane to tidy up what she calls "unfinished business."
This
tag-team journey of self-discovery, of course, won't spare our above-it-all
interlocutor; we know that when she answers a personal question by saying,
"This isn't about me."
She's
not alone in broadcasting the denial the play will methodically dismantle.
Chubby Helen (Jacque Lynn Colton) angrily fends off all comers, while former
activist Vera (Leslie Paxton) deflects Linda's probing more archly: "Maybe
that's the showstopper--looking into my heart."
Similarly
protective of private regrets are haughty loudmouth Louise (Dorothy
Constantine); saintly, blind Janette (Teddy Vincent); and stern, literate Clara
(Jody Carter).
While
August's strained playmaking piles contrivances upon revelations, and drums up
conflicts just to stage conciliations, the women's stories, once unfolded, have
a prickly, even harrowing authenticity. The actors ace these confessional
monologues, under Anna Stramese's solicitous if sluggish direction.
A
George Eliot quote, "It's never too late to be who you were meant to
be," sums up August's hopeful message about these oldsters. The same may
be true of her inchoate play.
--Rob Kendt
"Coming to Life," presented by Summerfall Productions at Fremont Center Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Apr. 11. $16-22. (818) 314-3636. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.