Review: THREE TALL WOMEN at New Mexico Actors Lab

The New Mexico Actors Lab has once again delivered a highly sensitive and wonderfully performed work.

Their mission: “Our award-winning work spans both classics and compelling new pieces, centering the work of the actor through intimate, vital storytelling that invites, excites, and touches both heart and mind. Step into our laboratory.”

Robert Benedetti founded the Actors Lab on this principle in 2012, and you see this work dutifully applied in his production of Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women.

The play is presented in two acts. In Act 1, the scene is established: an elderly, wealthy woman (A) meets with a young lawyer (C) who has been sent to get A's affairs in order. Woman B, a nurse, gently cares for Woman A through moments of senility and vulnerability. C remains unimpressed and uninspired. Act 2 enters a more surreal and dreamlike space where the three women become one and the same in various periods of A's life. 

The cast was given a challenging script and difficult subject matter, and they rose to the occasion under the direction of Robert Benedetti, who did not shy away from the sometimes ugly complexities of human nature, but handled those moments sensitively for both actors and audiences.

***CW: This production contains themes of illness and death, sexual references, and prejudiced and racist language.***

The absolute standout is Angela Bond, who portrayed Woman A. Her performance held space both large and small, and some of the most interesting acting in the entire piece was when she was seated at her desk, hand on cheek, listening to her other actors. Just beautiful. Her range of emotions, from quiet vulnerability and fear to strength and self-righteousness, was sometimes startling. Her physical transformation into the 92-year-old woman was astonishing – her frame slight and contorted at times, her hands positioned just so, her voice quivering with age but never breaking. Her vocal affectation established a polished society girl of another era, which was a wonderful contrast to her unsentimental, unbecoming behavior as her dementia progresses.

Kate Clarke stepped into the role of Woman B in the week leading up to production, and she navigated the hours of dialogue like a pro. She brings a wonderful attentiveness to the role in Act 1, particularly in the way she listens to and responds to Woman A. There is a deep respect in her performance; she understands Woman A’s position in this hierarchy of life and treats her with a dignity that Woman C, in her youth and inexperience, simply does not yet understand. Her transformation from Act 1 to Act 2 was lovely as she adopted the personification of the middle-aged Tall Woman, wise and assured, having accumulated life experiences, sometimes resentful of what life has asked of her, yet firm in her choices and living with the consequences. 

Arwyn Vernold, as Woman C in Act 1, felt a bit like a kid wearing her mother’s clothes in the best possible way. We understand quickly that her character is obviously very confident and talented in her career, but there is an underlying and deep insecurity in the presence of the older women; she wears those insecurities as hardened armor with a sharp tongue and rolling eyes, never admitting naivety or acknowledging that she has more to learn. Act 2, as the 26-year-old youth personified, this armor falls, and she reveals that she is indeed worried about her life ahead, worried about aging and worried about happiness most of all. There’s a wonderful monologue in Act 2, where the walls are fully down for Woman C, and Vernold navigated it well with girlish charm and gusto. 

A note on the monologues: perhaps this was a style choice, but it appeared that Women B and C broke the fourth wall and addressed the audience during these speeches, and I found it took me out of the scene. Veteran actor Angela Bond, meanwhile, found her horizon and captivated the room with a still introspection. Had there been more time for the ensemble to work together as a trio (*note the last-minute cast change), I would have loved to see them explore more physical and vocal synchronicities in Act 2, as well as a more established delivery style across the three women.

All in all, this is a very strong production and worthy of the national acclaim the New Mexico Actors Lab has garnered. The work is deeply human, and the lab’s black box allows for a personal and intimate experience for audiences. 

Bravi to the production team:

CAST

Angela Bond — A
Kate Clarke — B
Arwyn Vernold — C
Chance Riley — The Boy
*A contextual note: There was a significant cast change in the week leading up to production. Angela Bond was originally cast as Woman B and then “promoted” to Woman A, while Kate Clarke beautifully stepped into the role of Woman B.

CREW

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