EVIE'S WALTZ at The Magic Theatre

Marielle Heller (Evie), Darren Bridgett (Clay), Julie Brothers (Gloria), Photo by David Allen

EVIES WALTZ by Carter W. Lewis, directed by Loretta Greco. MAGIC THEATRE

Bldg D – Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123. (Parking lot entrance at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St.) Box Office: 415.441.8822 or http://www.magictheatre.org./.

November 15 through December 7.

EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 21, 2008

A SHATTERING & ENGROSSING EXPERIENCE

Loretta Greco, Magic Theatre’s new Artistic Director, chose “Evie’s Waltz”, written by Carter W. Lewis for her directorial debut, engaging an excellent cast to perform on an Erick Flatmo set that is integral to the unfolding of the plot. Picture a peaceful back yard patio in an upscale neighborhood where a married couple is enjoying drinks preparing an outdoor barbeque on a high-tech stainless steel model. In old-married-couple type of bantering, there is an almost incidental, rather causal acknowledgment that their teen-aged son has been expelled for carrying a gun to school. This is the first foreshadowing of what builds to a shattering, physically and emotionally, tension filled 90 minutes of theatre.

Father Clay (Darren Bridgett) and wife Gloria (Julia Brothers) are awaiting the mother of their son’s girlfriend Evie. Clay is ready to overlook and forgive his son’s transgression (“There is nothing that can’t be worked out.”) while Gloria is livid (“He is not my son.”), not willing to forgive. Evie (Marielle Heller) arrives saying that her mother is drunk and will not be coming. Her explanation for the blood on her shoulder is hardly believable and the banter gradually shifts to ominous accusations stripping the veneer of family unity displaying dysfunctional relationships between parents and son.

The son, Danny, is masterfully brought to life by Lewis’s brisk, sharp dialog exchanges between Evie and Gloria although he never appears on stage. We feel the intense passion of youth driven by schoolyard bullying, lack of parental acceptance and a perverted form of “Romeo and Juliet” love between Evie and Danny that is driving this frightening story. Greco moves her characters adroitly about the stage and when the “waltz” of the title is revealed, the strains of the “Blue Danube” are spine chilling.

Marielle Heller, a newcomer to the Magic Theatre, gives a tour de force performance and the always-superb Julie Brothers more than holds her own gaining strength in her interpretation of a mother torn with guilt and confused love for the unseen Danny. Darren Bridgett handles the underwritten role of father Clay expertly. There is the feeling that the play is still in a transition stage that is often the case with Magic Theatre’s dedication to development and production of new plays. Without revealing the total story line, one might take issue with the reaction of Gloria and Clay knowing that a sniper scoped high-powered rifle is aimed at them and they know the marksman is their son.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

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