Peace for Mary Frances

Peace for Mary Frances

The New Group

The Pershing Square Signature Center

June 16, 2018

Photo courtesy of The New Group

Lily Thorne’s play, Peace for Mary Frances, chronicles the end of life journey and the toll it takes on a family.  The New Group production is sensitive and realistic.  Director Lila Neugebauer builds on the conflict in the family dynamic that is deeply embedded in Ms. Thorne’s complex characters.  Secrets are revealed and emotions collide, yet the main character finds her peace.

Mary Frances (played by Lois Smith) is nearing ninety years of age and requires oxygen and constant care, which she receives from her daughter, Fanny (played by Johanna Day).  Her other daughter, Alice (played by J. Smith-Cameron) believes that Fanny is incapable of caring for their mother.  When the doctor finds fluid in her lungs, Mary Frances, who wishes to pass peacefully in her sleep, chooses hospice care.  Alice convinces her mother to pay her living expenses so she can move in and supervise her care around the clock.  Their brother, Eddie (played by Paul Lazar), visits once a week to maintain his mother’s finances.  His sisters are angered when they find out their mother has been paying him to do this.  Adding to the stress of the situation is the presence of Alice’s two adult daughters (played by Heather Burns and Natalie Gold).  Their memories of their grandmother are loving, which differs from the angst in the relationship between Mary Frances and her daughters.  Mary Frances has visions of her dead husband, mother, and father-in-law as she makes her peace, yet she leaves behind a family in turmoil.

Lois Smith & J. Smith-Cameron
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The play has a slow and steady pace, especially in the second act.  Fueling the action is the conflict between the two sisters.  J. Smith-Cameron and Johanna Day go at each other full force in these roles.  The history of their relationship and the stress of the situation cause their emotions to flare up in an instant.  Their portrayal of this vulnerability is truthful and genuine.  Lois Smith is warm, brave, and gutsy as Mary Frances.  The way she treats her children reflects a lifetime of experiences and forgiveness, but includes, as she says, never forgetting.  She embraces her grandchildren and looks longingly into the eyes of her great grandbaby, maintaining a connection to life up to the very end.

Johanna Day, J. Smith-Cameron, & Heather Burns
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The set, designed by Dane Laffrey, is a split level masterpiece, showing the living room, kitchen, and back porch on stage right, and Mary France’s bedroom about a half a flight up on stage left.  It is constructed as if one wall of the house opened up so the audience could peer in on this family in crisis.  Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau makes brilliant use of track lighting, chandeliers, and table lamps to enhance the realism and sense of peeking in on the lives of the characters.

Lily Thorne’s play successfully reveals the stark truths of facing the end of life, its stress, fears, and deeply embedded emotion.  Peace for Mary Frances closed on June 17. 

Domenick Danza

The Effect

The Effect

Barrow Street Theatre

August 11, 2016

Photo courtesy of The Effect

The Effect is a skillfully written play presently running Off-Broadway at Barrow Street Theatre.  Lucy Prebble’s script is masterfully structured with stunning dialogue that transports you into the world of the play and inner life of the characters.  David Cromer’s direction is succinct and bold.  He clearly set up an environment of trust where the actors are able to delve and create truthful relationships and realistic moments that engage and enthrall the audience.  The cast is superb and each delivers honest performances that trigger emotional response and spark intellectual discussion.

Kati Brazda & Steve Key
Photo courtesy of The Effect

Connie (played by Anne Bates) meets Tristan (played by Colin Bates) when they volunteer for an anti-depressant drug trial.  They are monitored and observed by Dr. Lorna James (played by Kati Brazda), who, we later find, suffers from bouts of depression.  As the days pass and the drugs begin to take effect, Connie and Tristan become attracted to one another.  We also find out that Dr. Lorna James, during a relatively trying time in her life, had a brief affair with her supervisor, Dr. Toby Sealey (played by Steve Key).  As the emotional roller coaster ride reaches its peak for these four characters, a few questions arise:  Which emotions are real?  Which emotions are drug induced?  Which emotions need to be controlled by medication?

Photo courtesy of The Effect

Set design, by Marsha Ginsberg, is slick and functional.  The walls quickly roll away to reveal new locations while, at the same time, eliciting a clinical setting.  The wall on house right is painted with a forest mural that fills the area with a calm and serene, yet haunting and mysterious ambiance.  Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau brilliantly creates shadows and isolates shapes that create moments of intrigue and heightened intensity.

The Effect is an intellectually stimulating and emotionally riveting play, produced with care and expertise.  Be sure to see it!  It is raw and real, thought provoking and passionate. 

Domenick Danza