BWW Reviews: Cadence Theatre's SIGHT UNSEEN Is a Sight To Be Seen

The beauty of photographs and paintings is that they forever lock into eternity what the artist or photographer saw at one moment in time.

In Sight Unseen currently being presented by Cadence Theatre Company in partnership with Virginia Repertory Theatre, the audience views moments in the life of a Jewish American award winning artist named Jonathan Waxman. Obie Award-winning playwright Donald Margulies presents his story non-lineally, with non-sequitur moments interspersed throughout both acts, representing 17 years from 1973-1990.

Waxman (Neil Brookshire) is trying to make sense of his life and success, and seeks out his former love and first muse, Patricia (Laine Satterfield). "Patty" has been living in England in a loveless marriage of convenience with Nick (Andrew Firda). The pair are archaeologists who spend their lives in a cold, dark, meaningless life, digging through relics of the past when Waxman comes to pay a sudden visit, while in London for his first European Art Exhibit.

Director Rusty Wilson presents Margulies artistic vision through almost portrait-like minimal moving staging. He and his talented cast vividly create these snapshots of Waxman's emotional journey to connect with himself and his past. Wilson utilizes imagery such as the peeling off of layers of clothing, or the peeling of an onion to parallel Waxman's peeling away at the thick layers of emptiness that now cover his self-image. Like an archaeologist, he digs away at the layers in search of his personal history.

Brookshire is commanding and believable as Waxman. While his New York accent sometimes sounds a bit Bostonian to this native New Yorker, his performance and character development are strong and consistent. He and Satterfield are especially entrancing in their performances as their younger selves- using body fluidity and clearly modulated voices to help delineate the time period of each scene of their lives. Satterfield is also strong in displaying Patricia's cold, hardened and mildly bitter soul.

Firda turns in a great comedic performance as the stoic husband with a dry British wit. Heather Falks rounds out the cast as a German reporter who fluctuates between Heidi Klum and a Swedish domintatrix, as her character ineffectually turns an interview into an interrogation; and a discussion of art into a revisiting of a battle between the Jews and the Nazis.

Some interesting moments were created by a revolve on the small stage in the Theater Gym. While it allowed Scenic Designer Benjamin Burke to create several portrait like sets that rotated in and out, the cast and crew still needed some work in making the revolve itself work At times it caused the entire set to wobble and jump as actors moved. Also, stage crew members inadvertently backed onto the stage during scenes as they changed sets backstage, and some set items fell during the revolves, but I am sure they will be able to work these kinks out.

In their sound design, Wilson and Andrew Hamm creatively use music to represent changes in time, and snippets of music by Paul Simon to help tell the story. As the final Simon song, "Bookends" states, and Waxman learns, "preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."

The title of the play comes from Nick's amazement that art patrons actually buy future works of Waxman's "sight unseen." But in the end, we all take a leap of faith that we will find any form of art satisfying- whether it be a painting, a television show or a play. I would encourage you to take that leap of faith "sight unseen" and go and see Sight Unseen, playing through November 8. www.VA-Rep.org

Photo by Jason Collins Photography.

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