One thing's for sure, from the literal moment Ava stepped on stage...I mean...Elizabeth...
All cheek aside, it's rare that I don't see an actor (as opposed to their character) in a performance, let alone a star with the kind of resume that spans decades of uninhibited dramatic force and extent. But, Elizabeth McGovern embodied Ava Gardner so fully, that I hardly noticed she was even there.
Entrancing and hypnotic in the title role of, AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS at The Geffen Playhouse, McGovern gets downright gritty in a gutsy, full-blown exploration of one of Hollywood's most meta-femmes fatales of her time. And she does so with fire.
Known almost more for the men she married than her talent on-screen, Gardner still holds sway in the minds and fantasies of fans. Indeed, in AVA, it's one of the prime subjects that writer Peter Evans (Aaron Costa Ganis) is tasked by his manager to excavate in the discovery phase of Gardner's must-publish book.
For Evans, it's not a particularly inviting project, at first. In fact, he initially thinks Ava's personal phone call to him is a joke until he reluctantly meets her in person. But his attitude changes pretty quickly after that.
From the start, Evans pushes Gardner to talk about her origins as a poor, small-town girl, her over-sexualization by the studio system, and the men who pursued her, beginning, of course, with Mickey Rooney. Gardner pushes back instantly. She refutes the very idea that she grew up poor, and marrying Rooney was all his idea.
But she doesn't want to talk about any of that really. She wants to talk about the normal. Not the plucky. The beauty. Not the assault. Not her sister who practically enslaved her in an extended film contract that paid her a pittance. And definitely not the husbands. Especially Sinatra. It's all too tiresome for her to keep revisiting. And where Frank is concerned, maybe even a little dangerous.
There is a keen device in this production that shifts us through the minds of both Gardner and Evans as they work together through conversation. Guiding us into the deepest recesses of the actress's memories it is effective and fascinating when it works. In fact, Ganis inhabits these spontaneous interludes quite brilliantly as Gardner recalls in vivid flashback, the deeply felt key moments of her life. Ganis shares the intense emotional complexity by also becoming the men who are linked to them - Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Sinatra.
Somehow, though, whether by the repetition, a lack of clarity, or a lack of fluidity, the writing doesn't always punctuate the narrative as it heads towards its unapologetically climactic finale.
Ava, however, is not to be deterred. Until the last, her mystery, her seductive allure, and her autonomy are her own to keep. Voiced in the audacious drawl of the modern actress who has surely inhibited her for some time off stage and on. Her story will be her own. Both, are indomitable.
AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS
Written by Elizabeth McGovern
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Based on the Book The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans & Ava Gardner
Produced in Association with Karl Sydow
Produced with the Support of the Ava Gardner Trust
Featuring Aaron Costa Ganis, Ryan W. Garcia & Elizabeth McGovern
Gil Cates THEATER AT The Geffen Playhouse 10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
Runtime: 90 minutes, no intermission.
Warnings: Herbal Cigarette Smoke • Flashes of Light
Content Advisory: This production contains profanity and discussions of sex and sexual assault.
Age Recommendation: 12+
All Geffen Playhouse productions are intended for an adult audience; children under 10 years of age will not be admitted.
Photo Credit: Elizabeth McGovern in Ava: The Secret Conversations at Geffen Playhouse. Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. Photo by Jeff Lorch.
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