The Siegel Column – By Barbara & Scott Siegel . . . .
In an end of season rush dominated by a flood of musicals, the big surprise is that the real quality on Broadway turns out to be in the smaller number of straight plays, specifically two brilliant, heart-stopping dramas: Paula Vogel’s The Mother Play and Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane. Both of these playwrights are long-time theater veterans who are bringing a world of nuance, emotional engagement, and beautiful writing to Broadway. On that last point, it is deeply refreshing to watch plays with smart dialogue and carefully constructed narratives.
It’s safe to say that The Mother Play is a deeply personal, autobiographical story. Celia Keenan-Bolger (real and authentic as always — she is one of our great young actresses) plays a younger version of Paula Vogel. One would think it’s her version of “Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman,” but it isn’t about how Paula became an artist, it’s about how she survived to be an adult, trapped between her love for her doomed brother and the coldness of her monstrous mother.
Celia’s brother is played by Jim Parsons and their mother is portrayed by Jessica Lange. Under the artful direction of Tina Landau, the three of them, together, give seamlessly genuine performances, internalizing Paula Vogel’s scenes and showing us how love (and the lack of it) becomes the thread that makes you who you are. This is a searing, powerful play.
And Mary Jane is also about a mother. Amy Herzog’s play about a young woman with a severely disabled child, looks at a mother’s love and devotion in just about the opposite manner then Paula Vogel’s opus. Both are sad plays, with crippling emotional fall-out, but Herzog’s story makes its mother, beautifully played with understatement by Rachel McAdams, a tragic heroine.
Here is a mother incredibly well-equipped to deal with problems. But some problems cannot be solved, no matter how resilient and willing to fight she may be. We quickly come to admire this woman because she is not privileged or rich or well-connected. She is doing her best as a single mother to care for her child, and it is taking a greater and greater toll upon her well-being.
A rich supporting cast, with each of the actors playing an additional role, allows the play to unfold with a natural grace thanks to the delicate direction of Anne Kauffman.
Don’t ask which is a better play. They are both the brightest gems of this theater season.
These two plays are not just about mothers, they are both written by women and directed by women. Which brings us to the musical historical drama, Suffs, which also was written (miraculously) with music and lyrics and book by Shaina Taub and starring Shaina Taub, and directed by a female director, Leigh Silverman.
First, full disclosure, Shaina Taub was one of our Broadway’s Rising Stars, an annual show where we audition young talent right out of school and choose who we think will make it and launch them into their careers with a national showcase concert (we did this for 14 years at Town Hall; Shaina was among our earliest Rising Stars.)
In many respects, Suffs tells a story about the mother(s) of our modern America. Getting the vote, well, that was the first, mighty step that had to be taken before equality with men could even be attempted. Shockingly, considering how important the suffrage movement has been to American democracy, its history and heroines are little known. Suffs does a great deal to bridge that gap.
The show has been called “Hamilton for Women.” Given the success of Hamilton, that might not be a bad slogan with which to promote the show, but it isn’t quite that accurate. While everyone portrayed in the musical is played by a woman (even President Woodrow Wilson), this feels surprisingly organic (unlike the all female cast of 1776).
The music and lyrics are strong, even powerful at times, and they move both the story and the history along with drive and purpose. The book is solid, feeling sometimes like a history lesson, but sturdy enough to hang all of the songs on them. And Leigh Silverman keeps this complicated story going with swift scene changes, and a fluidity that makes the story fly.
Suffs is also given an extra lift by several performances in the show that are simply exceptional: Jen Colella is brilliant as an older suffragette who believes the movement needs to move more slowly in order to succeed. Ally Bonino (Another full disclosure: Ally is also one of our Broadway’s Rising Stars) is superb as Alice Paul’s (Shaina Taub’s) best friend; funny, touching, wonderfully real in every acting choice. Hannah Cruz as a stirring symbol of the early movement, she was transcendent, as she needed to be for her role — and what a voice! What a presence! Finally, Emily Skinner playing two key featured roles, was sharply funny in the first, and deeply moving in the second. What a wonderful anchor she is to this entire production.
With so many musicals opening at the end of this season, Suffs, whether it wins awards or not, seems likely to be around for a nice long while. And deservedly so!
Three shows — all by women, directed by women, about women. Happy Mother’s Day!
Featured Image: Jim Parsons-Jessica Lange-Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Mother Play)