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Regional Reviews: St. Louis With Also see Richard's review of Rock of Ages
Later in life, a performer could theoretically just play "death scenes" over and over, till they've thoroughly rehearsed every conceivable fear or faint or rattle of it. And by then, if you happen to be that type of actor (or a hypochondriac, like myself), you'd have exhausted all your fears, and nothing would ever take you by surprise ever again about mortality, even when you finally embark on your own trip to the undiscovered country. You'd have already confronted it all on stage. A coward dies a thousand deaths. Although a really lucky actor could die many more, if the show is a hit. Except I'd never seen With. And so I never knew of my own remaining blind spot to mortality, which left me unprepared (till now) for whenever I actually do step over into oblivion myself. Carter W. Lewis' breathtaking dark comedy officially premiered at Perseverance Theatre in Juno, Alaska, in 2019. And the two performers at the Gaslight Theatre in St. Louis create a strangely rich experience: laying out the state of a 60-year marriage with perfect comic structure, and charting yet another path to the great beyond. It's not exactly a comedy, though. Annamaria Pileggi directs Whit Reichert as Clifford, who's been diagnosed with a form of dementia, along with Donna Weinsting as his wife Minnie, who's (even more recently) been diagnosed with cancer. And they've mislaid their instructions for assisted suicide, provoking something resembling hilarity (structurally) quite a bit. In fact, both cast members are highly regarded comic actors. So their combined technique and skill at timing holds With together like all the tiny networks of gluten in a fresh-baked loaf of bread. I'm not saying you'll never fear death again. But the process becomes so newly familiar, as they accuse each other of all sorts of household misdemeanors in search of the scraps of paper that will hasten the inevitable, that we laugh from a kind of relief, born of familiarity. With also boasts a strange sort of internal "jump scare" as well: a simple special-effect near the end that lands comically at first. But then, in a flash, our laughter is overcome by madness, thanks to Mr. Reichert's excellent performance. Stories of rats and raccoons suggest that Clifford and Minnie are returning to the earth. Their great director's rhyming behaviors on stage buttress the poetry of it all. And their home, on a set by Patrick Huber, becomes more and more real by the minute. But it becomes a sort of giant Tupperware for leftover lives, as Clifford and Minnie begin to feel they've been cut off from the rest of the world. Strictly by the clock, it's all fairly brief 73 minutes. But it feels like a full-length show. And even in its sheer economy we relish great psychological texture and periodic intensity, as well as something newly foundational in this version of the human condition. With runs through April 20, 2025, at Gaslight Theatre, 360 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.stlas.org. Cast: Production Staff: * Denotes Member, Actor's Equity Association |
