Review: THE MEMORY OF WATER at Burbage Theatre Company

“How can you be nostalgic for something that never actually existed?”

That loaded question—which speaks volumes—is posed by Mary, the middle sister who has returned home for her mother’s funeral in Shelagh Stephenson’s powerful albeit flawed drama, ‘The Memory of Water,’ now at Burbage Theatre Company.

Mary (Allison Crews), a workaholic physician, is reunited with her older sister, Teresa (Rae Mancini), the control freak who never ventured far from home. Teresa resents Mary’s laissez-faire attitude, until they are joined by their free-spirited baby sister, Catherine (Valerie Westgate), a proud underachiever and inadvertent provider of comic relief during this somber occasion. These ladies aren’t enemies, but it’s obvious they aren’t the best of friends.

Cramped in the bedroom (beautifully designed by Grey Rung) of their late mother, Vi (Director Lynne Collinson, filling in for Carol Schlink), the trio bickers endlessly about their past and present lives. Catherine anxiously awaits the arrival of her latest beau—apparently just another subject in her lengthy trail of conquests. Teresa appears to be mostly satisfied with the order of her life and the business she runs with her second husband, Frank (Brien Lang), until the floodgates open after she’s had a few drinks.

Mary’s five-year love interest, Mike (Aaron Morris), a married father of three, arrives to comfort her and show his support, but Mary has news which doesn’t sit well with him. If your parent’s death and your married boyfriend’s indifference weren’t already enough to endure, Mary is visited by Vi’s ghost, whose presence seemingly only serves to unnerve and further confuse her.

As emotions run high and long-held secrets are revealed, the stage interplay is always compelling and even occasionally funny, courtesy of Collinson’s conscious direction and the actors’ recognizable talent. Stephenson’s script isn’t perfect (or even exceptional), but it paints a tender, familiar picture of family dynamics and how we remember things differently from our siblings—and reminds us that time often buries rather than heals old wounds.

The witty, thoughtful dialogue holds the audience’s attention throughout, and the ensemble’s delivery is exemplary. Lang is impressive as the formerly stoic spouse, Frank, who wants more out of life, and Morris is equally memorable as the affectionate yet restrained adulterer, Mike.

Westgate’s skilled portrayal of Catherine manages to display both the humor and pain of loneliness, and Mancini aptly plays Teresa, a woman who has just about reached her breaking point, with intensity and sympathy. Crews magnificently conveys confidence and despair as the invariably conflicted Mary, and Collinson’s exquisitely composed Vi proves their mother was a force to reckoned with, even beyond the grave.

While I wasn’t expecting a happily-ever-after ending, Stephenson left too many questions unanswered, but the script’s imperfections are easily outshined by the distinguished performances. ‘The Memory of Water’ at Burbage is well-acted, cleverly amusing and emphatically profound.