“The Waverly Gallery” at Theatre One

By Richard Pacheco

            “The Waverly Gallery” currently at Theatre One in Middleboro is a solid production that is well acted and well directed. It was nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and its writer, Kenneth Lonergan  is well known for works like the screenplay of “Analyze This” and “Gangs of New York.” The play is a kind of memoru play based on his grandmother’s Greenwich Village Gallery. The play explores her fight to retain her independence and the subsequent effect of her decline on her family, especially her grandson. Inspired by Lonergan's own grandmother, it's an ode to an extraordinary woman, and to the humor and strength of a family in crisis. The family members who agonize over Gladys's retreat from reality are themselves given to lesser versions of what they deplore in her: repeating the same questions and phrases, disputing past events, forgetting names and places, following trains of thought that derail into non sequiturs and dead ends.
            Gladys, a former lawyer with a vital social conscience and a passion for entertaining who now runs a small, unfashionable art gallery in Greenwich Village. Susan Wing Markson is Gladys, the grandmother who struggle valiantly against the ravages of Alzheimer’s and dementia, slowly but surely eroding her memory and her ability to be present without losing track of her conversations.  It is a sad slow disintegration with more than its share of humorous moments interspersed throughout. Markson handles it with flair and finesse, making Gladys believable and funny even in her sad declining abilities. ''The Waverly Gallery,'' is used to indicate an inextinguishable will inside a decaying mind.
            Christopher Cartier makes his acting debut as grandson Daniel Reed with Theatre One with this play and an auspicious debut it is. Daniel loves his grandmother very much and is at a loss to watch her slowly slip away from the family into her own little world. While he loves her, he is also frustrated by her and her condition such as when she shows up at his apartment in the middle of the night, not once, but multiple times. He frames the evening's vignettes with lyrical retrospective monologues.
            Jane Cartier is Ellen Fine, Daniel’s mother and Gladys’ daughter, who finds herself caught up in her mother’s failing health and the toll it takes on the entire family and is at a loss at what to do. Cartier is fine as Ellen and deftly conveys her frustration and affection for her mother, the confusion as to what to do next for the best of all concerned.
            Ken Carberry is Howard Fine, Elle’s husband, basically a nice guy who is at a loss at confronting the deteriorating mental condition that afflicts Gladys. Carberry is pleasant and amiable in the role, very likeable.

The final member of the cast in the artist from out of town, a man with an eye for details in his paintings such as the one of his sister’s wheelchair, but not exactly abundant in the talent category, but a nice guy none the less who takes on Gladys like she is his family. John Marzelli is the painter Don Bowman. Marzelli is likeable and amiable in the role, sincere and convincing as the artist from Massachusetts who desire a show in an NYC gallery as his ticket to success.
It is directed with intelligence and sensitivity by Peg Suarman Holzemer. She keeps everything sincere and truthful.
            The play is both funny and sad. It’s a strong yet likeable cast. At times however I found it a bit repetitive in dialogue. Yet for the strong performances and direction, it is well worth seeing.
            It will be presented again by Theatre One at the Alley Theatre in Middleboro 133 Center Street Middleboro. March 29, April 3, 4, 5 at 7:30pm Sunday  March 30 April 6 at 2pm.  Tickets at the Door “Cash Only” Students & Seniors $15 Gen $18 Food Donations for the COA Senior Food Pantry accepted at all Performances. Info 1-617-840-1490