BWW Reviews: REVERBERATION at Hartford Stage Company

Playwright Matthew Lopez calls the Hartford Stage his artistic home. He's been a writing fellow there, and they've mounted full productions now of three of his plays, a triad he calls his 'Agoraphobia Trilogy.' REVERBERATION is the first of the three to receive its world premiere in Hartford. It's on the boards until March 15.

Lopez' plays range widely in setting and tone, though in each he delineates an isolated character who has retreated from the world. THE WHIPPING MAN is his most produced work. It's a Civil War drama set in 1865 about Jewish slaves and soldiers nursing wounds. SOMEWHERE takes place in 1959. It's a sweet family story tied loosely to Lopez' own biography, and revolves around a Puerto Rican household enamored of Broadway dancing, with siblings hoping to win spots in WEST SIDE STORY, at the same time they are being evicted from their Hell's Kitchen apartment to make way for the construction of Lincoln Center.

REVERBERATION takes place in the present in Astoria, Queens. (We actually hear NPR newscasts from December 2014 in the excellent soundscape by Tei Blow.) A three character play, it is, at heart, a meditation on love and the city. Central is Jonathan (Luke Macfarlane), a 35 year old greeting card illustrator and gay man who has seen violence on the streets of the city and finds it hard to venture forth now. He uses Grindr to hook up with partners who come to him, including Wes (Carl Lundstedt), a relative newcomer to the city at 23. Claire (Aya Cash) moves in upstairs--her latest domicile in a long line of residences, all over the States and Europe. She loves high-end fashion. Clerking at Barneys and Bloomingdales supports her habit, and supplies the wardrobe she covets. We're led to believe she's seeing a variety of men, most of them older.

The play is direct about sex as separate from love. (In fact, sex scenes, prolonged full nudity and violence cause the theater to recommend this show only for age 18+.) What's fundamental, though, is that all the characters have a yearning for love and companionship, and for sex that is loving. Lopez pays painstaking attention to all the needs and negotiations and gambits in play. There are delightful, sunny moments, which you want for these three people, since each character has appeal, especially as interpreted by these three fine actors. Lopez writes some great lines for them, to wit: Claire admits "Feminism died on my watch that night" and Wes says "I thought coming to New York would be like college but better; instead it's like high school but worse."

In the end, though, trauma and tragedy trump the transformations we see them attempt. In the end, as well, Claire is left literally speechless while undertaking a crucial set of decisions, which leaves the audience unclear about what choices she has actually made. I'm not convinced Lopez and dramaturg Elizabeth Williamson have yet found the best possible ending for this piece, although I don't have an alternative to propose. The current ending is a long time coming, with a running time of 2 hours 20 minutes.

It's clear that Lopez and the actors have done extensive work on the back stories of these characters. Much of that is suggested with efficient clues that give the audience good connective work to do. Director Maxwell Williams has calibrated the performances his actors bring with delicacy. Still, there is also an occasional (eloquent) speech that could be trimmed a little. There are many slow transitions between scenes, made interesting by varied lighting effects. These may be necessary in order to set up a final effect: but this also slows down the pace of the piece.

Andromache Chalfant's two level set is terrific. Creating credible clutter is harder than it looks, but Jonathan's apartment looks very lived in at the top of the show, and the changes that happen over intermission accomplish a lot of storytelling.

This play is a real contribution to our conversation about contemporary love and relationship. One way it does so is to offer hetero folk insight into the tenderness at the heart of one particular gay attraction. It deserves more than just this inaugural production.

Photo credits: T. Charles Erickson

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