Stopping Traffic: Slow Moving Vehicle

"People have been telling me to shut up since I was four years old," says Mary Pat Gleason at the top of her autobiographical solo play, Stopping Traffic. It's nice to have a cute little self-effacing joke at the beginning of a piece where you're going to be talking about yourself nonstop for ninety minutes. It helps the audience relax when you make it clear you're not going to take yourself too seriously. It's good to have a warm, sunny, energetic personality, too. Gleason's certainly got that.  Attractive clothes, a good design team, a director with a knack for comedy… all set.

All she needs now is a plot.

If the name Mary Pat Gleason isn't familiar to you, the face may cause you point your finger wildly in the air while muttering, "Right, that's… her…" She's one of those many fine character actors who bounce around from television to film, working regularly but generally known to non-industry types as, "That lady who was in…"

In theory, Stopping Traffic deals primarily with her battle against bipolar disorder and its threat to end her career. That, in itself, is an interesting story. After suffering an episode that hospitalized her while filming on location, she found herself being blacklisted by her own agent. "I'm not gonna let you jeopardize my relationship with casting directors that could hurt my whole client list," he tells her.

She gets a huge break being cast in director Nicholas Hytner's movie version of, very appropriately, The Crucible. The story of the events that disrupt the filming of her big scene are extremely well told, loaded with heroism and humility and a kicker of a Hollywood ending.

But before we get there, Gleason aimlessly rambles through stories of gumdrop trees, bi-coastal therapy sessions, a gay boyfriend, falling in love with an alcoholic and having her karma burned off by a guru named Babba, just to name a handful. Barely anything is explored in detail as she babbles on.

Director Lonny Price keeps the show determinedly upbeat and designers Neil Patel (set), Tracy Christensen (costume), David Weiner (lights) and Obadiah Eaves all nicely contribute to a rather cute and likeable production.

I'm sure it took a great deal of courage for Mary Pat Gleason to get though her ordeal and she is to be admired for that. But dull playwriting is dull playwriting and Stopping Traffic barely gets started.

Photo of Mary Pat Gleason by Carol Rosegg

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