'The Sisters Rosensweig' A Treasure That Triples Your Pleasure

"The Sisters Rosensweig"

Written by Wendy Wasserstein

Directed by Nicholas Martin

Scenery Designed by David Korins

Costumes Designed by Robert Morgan

Lighting Designed by Rui Rita

Sound Designed by Drew Levy

Casting Director Allaine Alldaffer

Production Stage Manager Stephen M. Kaus

Stage Manager Eileen Ryan Kelly

CAST in order of appearance

Tess Goode.................Amelia Jean Alvarez

Pfeni Rosensweig.........Mimi Lieber

Sara Goode............... Maureen Anderman

Geoffrey Duncan..........T. Scott Cunningham

Mervyn Kant...............Jeremiah Kissel

Gorgeous Teitelbaum.....Deborah Offner

Tom Valiunus..............James McMenamin

Nicholas Pym..............Richard Snee

Performances at Boston University Theatre through December 4, 2005

It is a rarity to find portrayals of strong women in our popular culture and rarer still to find them over the age of forty. However, in "The Sisters Rosensweig," Wendy Wasserstein has given us not one, not two, but four strong, intelligent women, three of whom are "of a certain age." And while we do not meet them on the stage, the ancestral materfamilias hover over the lives of Pfeni, Sara, and Gorgeous, informing their beliefs, their choices, and their relationships.

"Sisters" tells the story of one weekend in August, 1991, when the three Jewish-American sisters from Brooklyn gather in Queen Anne's Gate, London, to celebrate the 54^th birthday of Sara, the expatriate eldest, at her posh flat. During the course of 48 hours, the outer layers of each sister's personality are peeled away, revealing their neuroses, forcing them to face their fears, and resulting in some serious tweaking of their self-definitions. Sara's 17-year old daughter Tess and several male friends are along for the party and the journey.

Each of the characters is well written by Wasserstein and well played under the direction of the Huntington's Artistic Director Nicholas Martin. The veteran actresses featured in the lead roles of Sara (Maureen Anderman), Pfeni (Mimi Lieber), and Gorgeous (Deborah Offner), are ably supported by the men in their lives, portrayed by T. Scott Cunningham, Jeremiah Kissel, James McMenamin, and Richard Snee, and every one of them is appropriately cast.

When the curtain goes up to display the sitting room, there is much for our eyes to take in as David Korins' set perfectly reflects the formal, la-ti-da lifestyle of its occupant. Rich, purple drapery, a peach settee, ornate chandeliers, and two stately columns flanking the steps into the sunken room complement the walls of mint green, decorated with innumerable roses. Upstage is an equally formal dining room, its table set for the birthday dinner, which can be closed off by drawing the pocket doors. In fact, Sara uses that device to close herself off from Merv as he strives to get to know her in the second scene of Act One. She has, as Merv states so knowingly, "closed shop" when it comes to relationships and maintains a physical as well as an emotional distance from him by maneuvering about the stage when they first meet. Merv is undaunted and persists in trying to infiltrate her life, if not her heart. As played by Kissel, Merv is one of the more ingratiating characters and I found myself rooting for him to break through Sara's tough exterior. Kissel's performance is at once brassy and nuanced as he shows us a man struggling to be hopeful and positive while wanting very much to find love and connection. The challenge he faces with Sara may be best summed up by her comment that she is happy to live in "a country where our feelings are openly repressed."

Pfeni at 40 is the youngest sister who travels the world, living her life "like she was on an extended junior year abroad." She makes her entrance laden with shopping bags because, as she explains to her niece, her mother told her that only crazy people travel with shopping bags, so that has become her personal signature. Her emotional baggage is soon on display as we learn about her romantic involvement with Geoffrey, a renowned director and bisexual, her conflicted relationship with big sister Sara, and her need to fill up her life by documenting the suffering of others.

Middle sibling Gorgeous is the "funsy" sister who supposedly did everything right in that she married the lawyer and raised her children in the suburbs (in this case, Newton, Massachusetts, which went over big with this Boston audience). However, she rails against being considered a cliché and has reinvented herself as Dr. Gorgeous, host of a popular call-in radio program. The fact that I am the middle child of three daughters in my family may have enhanced my connection to this sister in some way, but I found traits in each of them that resonate with me.

One of the most interesting facets of the play is Wasserstein's ability to create three distinctive personalities who share the same roots and to show what they each embrace and reject from their background and upbringing. Sara proudly wears the mantle of brilliant and successful businesswoman, yet struggles against her ethnicity, having long since assimilated. While sharing some sexual tension and, perhaps, attraction with Merv, she is uncomfortable and repelled by his Jewishness. However, he becomes the catalyst for her change of heart. Pfeni serves as a role model for niece Tess by being diametrically different from Sara and embodying the pioneer spirit of their eastern European ancestors. Yet she carries it to an extreme which disallows her from settling into a viable relationship with a man. Tess harbors her own feelings of wanderlust and questioning where she belongs, but has not yet developed the courage of her convictions. On the surface, Gorgeous appears confident in herself and the life she has crafted, but her insecurities stand out like the jewelry and accessories to which she ascribes such importance.

Each of the sisters is wounded, but oh, so human. And while their relationships with the men in their lives are flawed, their sibling connection is strong and true. With their sisters by their side, they can pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and move on in life. On this particular weekend, although each of them feels some growing pains, they are there to support each other and make it okay with advice, humor, and love.

Robert Morgan's costumes and Rui Rita's lighting design enhance the production, most notably at Sara's birthday celebration when the sisters and Nicholas Pym really "dress" for dinner. Musical interludes as the scenes change and snippets of songs sung by some of the actors season the story and entertain us. Unfortunately, the FM hearing enhancement system at the B.U. Theatre was not operating at this performance.

When the new slate blue and gold curtain came down, it was hard to say goodbye to the Sisters Rosensweig and their men. If only I could turn on my radio and hear the Dr. Gorgeous Show, or travel the world with Pfeni, or even enjoy some cassoulet with Sara, it would be a treasure. Maybe I'll just go call my sisters.

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