BWW Reviews: HAPPY DAYS at Theatreworks

"What does it mean?"

A reasonable question, when confronted with the odd, arresting sight of a woman half-buried in an angular mound, looking like nothing so much as an avant-garde version of one of those cakes with a Barbie doll stuck in the top. How did she get there? What role does her husband play in all this? From whence comes the loud bell that dictates her waking and sleeping? Is she a commentary on the imprisoning quality of everyday life? A metaphor for dying? What's the point of all this, really?

The point is Happy Days doesn't have a point-or rather, Samuel Beckett has quite deliberately chosen not to state one. Themes come and go like the thoughts in Winnie's (Lynne Hastings) head as she makes do with her extraordinary situation, but this is not a story with a pat moral or message. Instead, it is a nuanced character study of Winnie, who struggles to remain positive and philosophical even as she inevitably sinks closer to her doom. She clings to simple comforts, reminisces, ponders mundane oddities (should hair be properly referred to as "it" or "them"?), nags her husband Willie (David Hastings, Lynne's real-life spouse), and does everything she can to stave off despair, with varying degrees of success.

It is a peculiar experience, but never a dull one, for all that one of the actors cannot move and the other communicates mainly in odd grunts and groans. Lynne Hastings gives Winnie subtle layers of emotional resonance, gradually revealing the fear and anger that lurks beneath Winnie's determined optimism and the reverence with which she goes about her daily routine (such as it is). As for Willie, we see so little of him, yet his situation is perhaps even stranger than his wife's. He's apparently able to come and go as he pleases, yet he doesn't abandon Winnie. Neither does he help her. Is he trapped in some way as well? David Hastings makes the most of the taciturn, disinterested character, especially his curiously pathetic emergence at the play's climax.

Murray Ross is no stranger to making do with the circumstances dealt to him. After a search for a suitable off-site venue for Happy Days proved unsuccessful, the production was relocated in Theatreworks' usual stomping grounds at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater. This means the play loses some of the environmental ambience which helped make last year's Venus in Fur such an unforgettable experience. But Happy Days remains a unique peek in the daily lives of an ordinary couple in very unusual circumstances.

HAPPY DAYS plays now through April 5th at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 4pm. For tickets, contact the box office at 719-255-3232 or visit theatreworkscs.org.

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