Review: Dementia and Death Vie With Pride in THE OUTGOING TIDE

Gunner Concannon of Chesapeake Bay is losing his mind but not his wits as he descends into dementia's abyss. Confusion and memory lapses abound. The ravaging effects of Alzheimer's Disease may not be far off. There are urgent end-of-life choices to be made. His wife Peg's preference is to place him in the A-Wing of a state-of-the-art personal care center. He has other plans. Gunner's last stand will be both a declaration of free will and an act of altruism and self-redemption, albeit an act of fraud.

Bruce Graham's The Outgoing Tide ripples with emotion and churns with questions of ethics as it charts Gunner's final course.

In Theatre Artists Studio's current staging of the drama, Michael Fleck is the wind that fills the story's sail. Fleck delivers a well-rounded and sensitively drawn performance as Gunner. In one moment, he is the prevailing authority of his family. In another, he is adrift, confusing a microwave with a TV or not recognizing his son Jack. In a series of flashbacks, his unkindnesses and slights are revealed. In the end, he pleads for acceptance of his plan. At each tack, Fleck masters the mood and temper of his character.

The Outgoing Tide is not Gunner's story alone. In Gunner's wake is the turbulence that defines his wife's and son's condition. Jack (Steven Fajardo) is in the throes of a family crisis and dispirited as ever, no thanks to a dad that never failed to demean him. Peg (Judy Lebeau) is the ever loyal and dutiful wife, now in a panic over what the future has in store.

It is to director Judy Rollings' credit that the weave of these stories and the flashbacks are handled so seamlessly and convincingly. Rollings has also paced this play, however, with a keen sense of timing, waiting for the perfect storm to unleash Peg and Jack. In the beginning, Fajardo and Lebeau's performances are understated. Fajardo's Jack may seem lost and distracted, enveloped in a mist of depression. Lebeau's Peg sputters in confusion and distress. But, when the inevitable push comes to shove, the emotional rush is potent. Judy Lebeau's tearful outcry to Gunner is overwhelming; her final act of grace on behalf of the man she has loved is stirring.

Such tales as The Outgoing Tide are worth the telling as the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's increases. Graham's tack is distinct from other recent works that examine the human dimension of the disease: Barney Norris's Visitors, Carol Cece Anderson's Swan Song of Maria, Lawrence Allen's Flowers from Tunisia, and Florian Zeller's The Father. It is, nevertheless, intensely human, personal, and revelatory ~ and very well done in Theatre Artists Studio's hands.

The Outgoing Tide runs through April 24th.

Photo credit to Mark Gluckman