| REVIEWS OF THE PLAYS OF MARK SCHARF THE WHISPERS OF SAINTS reviewed by Carrie Madren (March, 2007) This award-winning drama pulls adult theatergoers deep into complex, compelling characters at crossroads of connections Twin Beach Players’ The Whispers of Saints is a study of relationships, time and love. A mother, her lover and her daughter come to a crossroads at the beach home of Catherine, a former psychiatrist (Helenmary Ball) and her much younger lover — and former patient — David (Tom Weaver). <st1:State><st1:place>Maryland</st1:place></st1:State> playwright Mark Scharf won first place for both Best Play and Best Production with his Whispers in the 2002 Baltimore Playwrights Festival. For Twin Beach Players’ revival, he worked with directors Janine Naus and Joanne McDonald to bring this intimate story of human connections to local audiences. As the play opens, barreling into Catherine and David’s breezy, uncommitted love affair comes middle-aged, crisis-ridden daughter Laura (Katzi Carver), who has retreated home carrying loads of emotional baggage and the news that her husband of 15 years seeks divorce. Discarded Laura resents her mother’s love affair with a man younger than she herself, which dredges up old angers. In her pain, she resists both David’s attempts to help and her mother’s attempts to love. Frustrated in reaching out to Laura, Catherine and David both reveal their own baggage and weaknesses. In a drama of the very human emotion — and very human — defenses, we see complex characters at a crossroads. The story unfolds from one afternoon into the next morning in the beach house kitchen. A real sliding glass door — applauded by playwright Scharf, who was in the audience on opening night — adds stability and strength to the set. A breeze ruffles the lace curtains and crashing ocean waves sound from backstage when Catherine leans on the open glass door to hear the sea’s soft lapping on sand — the whispers of saints, she calls it. Like the glass door all the props are real. David cracks open more than one bottle of Harp Lager in the kitchen filled with shells and beach house furniture. In the intimate Black Box Theatre at Union Church, the actors are so close that you feel like you’re a part of the drama. As well as engaging storyline, fine acting drives this drama. Katzi Carver’s Laura is as sharp as a knife, her bottled anger driving bitter exchanges with her mother and David. As the play unfolds, we see a complex character reveal pain, uncertainty about the future and, finally, a glimpse of hope. As Laura’s life-weathered mother Catherine, Helenmary Ball is a natural. Ball’s motherly grace — towards both Laura and David — contrasts with her storied past, the source of much of the younger woman’s anger: Catherine divorced her husband and was forced out of her profession after an affair with a patient. Ball plays her character as a self-preservationist. Catherine’s lover, David — played by Tom Weaver, who fits the part well — is a kind, mid-20s drifter, nestled into the off-season beachside retreat, where Catherine helps suppress his slight manic-depressive tendencies. This isn’t one for kids — Carver’s bare legs dangle from an oversized shirt in the second act — but it’s a story that will take adults deep into complex, compelling characters. Talent abounds in one-act plays Theater: J. Wynn Rousuck Originally published Jul 13, 2006 From Shakespeare to transit systems, from language usage to landscaping. The four one-act plays at Fell's Point Corner Theatre, jointly titled The Past Is Present, tackle diverse subjects at the same time that they showcase some of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival's more talented writing and acting. All four are by festival veterans. The middle two -Memory Garden and Wilderness, both by Mark Scharf - are distinguished by strong naturalistic dialogue and character development. In the first, a young widow (portrayed by Janise Whelan with a convincing blend of sensitivity and anger) visits the roadside memorial to her husband, who died in a motorcycle accident. Soon a man (Richard Peck) approaches, claiming to be a reporter who has been watching her here each week. His true identity soon becomes obvious. Less obvious is the revelation that there can be two sides to even the most seemingly black-and-white event. Wilderness also focuses on a widowed spouse - an elderly man who has let his yard go after his wife's death. Steve Lichtenstein is appropriately crusty as the widower, and Whelan returns as a prim, officious emissary from the neighborhood. Here again, Scharf gives credible voice to a minority viewpoint. Beltway Roulette Sometimes a great cast will take an ordinary play and make it a hit: sometimes a great script will overcome a mediocre cast. And sometimes, if both come together, you get that rare combination -- a splendidly written drama acted out by a first rate cast. This is Beltway Roulette, Mark Scharf's play, perfectly directed by Mike Moran and part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. Beltway Roulette is the name of 'the game' played by a promiscuous young married woman, Celeste, portrayed with spitfire explosiveness by Gina Dipeppe. Seen first in a liaison with a casual pickup, she is brash, mean, vicious, vindictive, addictive and funny. Her pick-up, played just right by Joseph Riley, is nothing more than a straying husband beaten into the ground by Celeste's verbal abuse and sexy demeanor which leaves him reeling and perhaps a little frightened. But there is more to Celeste than this outwardly brittle person we have met. Her visit to her psychiatrist again brings out more of her abrasiveness and abusiveness; and Richard Goldberg plays the part of the shrink to perfection, answering questions with more questions as she sits, squirms, paces, yells, twitches and goads while he remains ever the calm professional. Still, the real secret begins to unfold in a short park scene where she sits on a bench talking with a stranger who is watching his young daughter on a swing. Wonderfully played by Joseph M. Dunn, with side glances and raised eyebrows, uncomfortably listening to this woman who is babbling to him about things he doesn't understand and scaring the life out of him. Now Celeste is poignant and not the same woman we met earlier - and the manifestation of her buried secret nudges to the surface for just an instant. It is then that you remember one short bit of action in scene one, which now suggests that perhaps, had we been more astute, might have led us to guess the terrible truth at that time. In the final act she meets with her husband, played to perfection by Dan Ferris, who mixes just the right blend of frustration, puzzlement and love. The line: 'I miss you even when you're here' seems to hit just the right note to indicate just how wide the chasm between them has become. What will the outcome be? Can they overcome the gap that has widened between them? Is there any way to save the marriage? This is a splendid evening of theater and Gina Dipeppe's Celeste is, well, superb. The way she lights and crushes out cigarettes fits exactly into the character she is portraying. The last time I saw so much smoking was when Anne Bancroft played Golda. As in Golda, it serves a purpose -- and is an integral part of what makes Celeste tick. Don't miss this one... you will remember Celeste for a long, long time. At Spotlighters Theatre through July 29. - Jules Blitz |
