Anthology of Love funny moving
February 13th, 2008, 3:18 am Hobbies Ideas
ANTHOLOGY OF LOVE, Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W. Center, Provo (852-7007), through March 1; running time: one hour, 45 minutes
PROVO “Anthology of Love” is not a musical.
Yet there is something lyrical about the harmonies, melodies and dissonances that abound in six one-act plays, whose stories range from clever and funny to poignant and piercing.
Although the expressions of love range from the cotton-candy lightness of a new possibility to the tender sorrow of second choice, there is much to recommend in each story. They unfold on the barest of sets, but the stage is largely forgotten amid the stories.
The richest of the sextet is “Rachel’s Sister,” written by Eric Samuelson. He examines the morning following the marriage of the biblical characters Jacob and Leah.
Jacob’s horror and distress as he realizes he is not married to Rachel, the younger sister, and Leah’s firm conviction that Jacob is the only person who carries the religious beliefs so vital to each sister is bittersweet. As Leah gently explains why Jacob needs to wait seven additional years to marry Rachel to give their own union a chance Jacob comes to see that he must love Leah, too. Megan Jones, who plays Leah, does an admirable job holding onto her sense of self, even as she recognizes her secondary position and the pain that will be hers when he also marries her sister. Nate Hoffman as Jacob is equally convincing.
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A couple obviously married for some time is entertaining to watch in “The Look.” Written by Arisael Rivera and starring J. Scott Bronson and Amanda Bakly, the scene shows the duo bickering gently at the grocery store as they decide what size of ice cream they should get to help nurse their daughter’s slightly broken heart. He seizes upon the look she always gives him when she is exasperated, and she teases him into trying to duplicate it. Both performers have fun with their parts, and so does the audience.
“Hold Me” deals with Annakay, a young woman who learns she has another breast malignancy, and her fiance, who gamely tries to be there for her. Some of the dialogue by Marianne Hales Harding seems a little forced and artificial, but there is a payoff in the last moment of the play. Actors are Jones and Hoffman.
With “One Step at a Time” by Elizabeth Gilliland, a former couple gets locked in a closet and quarrel as they try to find a way out. Bronson is hilarious and is a master of bemusement, bewilderment and wiliness, and Bakly is his equal.
The funniest punch line probably takes place in “Make-up Artist,” written by and starring Bronson. As he submits to a makeup job, some very funny “Do you like your mother” conversation ensues, and you learn that the artist, played with great amusement by Jones, is more than her makeup.
The final work is “The Proposal” by Anton Chekhov, translated by Dustin Condren. Featuring Thom Duncan, Jones and Hoffman, it becomes apparent even before marriage how compatible or incompatible a couple will be.
Between set changes, popular songs mimic the story that has just unfolded and reinforce the belief that love can come in many guises. “Anthology of Love” is highly recommended.
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