In a hyper-diverse community like Jersey City where dozens of languages are spoken, many cultures are celebrated and just about every kind of church can be found, it?s hard to imagine WASPs, or White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, being very relatable in these parts.
The Attic Ensemble?s latest production, The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney, however, brings us into the lives of upper-middle class Americans and shows us that at the core of each of their homes are things all classes and types hold dear. As the show?s tagline puts it, ?Tradition, furniture, family.?
In the show, six talented actors ? Ross Pivec, Will Nagy, Benjamin Holmes, Jean Brookner, Jessica Nelson and Katie Lawson ? play 57 characters in 18 scenes set ? where else? ? in a dining room. The play makes use of a beautiful old table owned by Attic Ensemble Vice President Mary Murphy?s parents, wooden chairs from a thrift store and an array of placemats, glasses, and other knick-knacks from the cast, crew and the Attic Ensemble?s prop collection.
Some of the scenes are about eating everyday meals with family, others about parties and gatherings, and others about the room?s furniture (one of the most hilarious scenes features Brookner as a randy divorcee doing some under-the-table flirting with strapping furniture repair man Nagy). Just about every actor takes a turn at playing twice or perhaps even thrice their age, and also at channeling grade-school versions of themselves, pounding loudly on tables at a kids? birthday party or whining when the Irish housemaid reveals that she?s leaving the family for good.
The cast is a versatile bunch, changing quickly from one character to another as the scenes overlap and intertwine (often, one scene begins as another is still ending). Pivec and his many voices shine, and while a few of his older man characters end up sounding a bit similar, his consistency and dedication to each character is remarkable. In one of the last scenes, Pivec has a wry discussion about his own funeral with his son (Nagy) in a calm, matter-of-fact, almost Church-Ladyish tone that amplifies the scene?s humor.
Holmes shows a similar diversity and commitment to his characters, perhaps best seen in a vignette where he vows to defend his family?s honor after someone makes an unspeakably (really, he can?t speak about it) awful comment about his brother, in what might be the most dramatic, grandiose tone ever.
Every actor stretches him or herself to the fullest ? Nagy is just at home in a wifebeater as he is in a suit as he bounces between classes; Brookner is just as fun to watch as an old-fashioned, fingerbowl-using WASP as she is as a rebellious, gin-and-vodka mixing teen; and Nelson doesn?t miss a beat whether she?s playing a young woman like herself or an aging caretaker with a limp.
Despite some exchanges lasting fewer than five minutes and the play?s quick-change transitions, director Wanda Maragni keeps the play grounded and gets the audience invested in each and every story. In each scene, it seems like its characters and its plot are the only things that ever mattered. As the next scene switches in, you long to know more about the last, only to be just as fully invested in the new scene within seconds. Even the most contrived scenarios end up feeling real, and the clever in-the-round staging that doesn?t mind occasionally giving the audience an actor?s cold shoulder puts viewers right in the action.
Two of the most emotional scenes (which are some of Maragni?s personal favorites) feature stellar performances by Lawson. In one, she plays a young woman begging her father to take in her and her two kids after her marriage and not one, but two, of her new romances are left in shambles. In another, Holmes, Nagy and Pivec play brothers desperately trying to keep their elderly mother (Lawson), who has some form of dementia or Alzheimer?s, in the present moment as they eat Thanksgiving dinner. This scene, Maragni says, had a dramatic effect on one audience member.
?On opening night, someone had to run out of the theater during intermission because she was so moved by the last scene. Her mother had Alzheimer?s and she said it was so real to her and that she had lived it many times,? says Maragni. ?That?s what we live for in theater ? it touches people and they connect with it.?
The Dining Room has four more shows ? Thursday Sept. 20 at 7 pm, Friday Sept. 21 and Saturday Sept. 22 at 8 pm and Sunday Sept. 23 at 3 pm ? at the Barrow Mansion, located at 83 Wayne St. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors. For more information, call 201-413-9200 or visit the Attic Ensemble?s
Photos courtesy of Wanda Maragni
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