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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Meet Me at Dawn Also see Richard's reviews of With, Rock of Ages
Robyn and Helen are played by the ringing duo of Lizi Watt and Michelle Hand at the Marcelle Theatre. And as much as I want to make a joke about their own personal "Isle of Lesbos," each actress becomes more and more like Schrödinger's cat in its own mysterious box. They suffer a sense of dislocation, having swum ashore from a boat crash–but to which shore? Later, when one of them is accused of being dead, her sense of being robbed is palpable. But anything can happen on a lonely beach, if Shakespeare or even Albee is any guide. And it turns out they're not entirely alone: a dreadful sort of "sea hag" comes and goes, mocking them, till one single illusion begins to coalesce into a concrete sort of truth. You can see it all, though, every detail of a beautiful relationship, as they go back to the first home that they'd planned for themselves, or to a therapy session, and even into the swirling wake of an Evinrude. Or just within a fateful moment of charity to a homeless person, before all this happened. I'm purposely muddling the timeline a bit, but that's a critic's right: to be wrong, in artful ways. Meet Me at Dawn is irresistible–not just in its onstage chemistry, but also in the sense that everything we thought at the outset gets turned around till that final romantic scene; even that concrete truth is jackhammered into its own dreamy personal mosaic by the end. It's the sort of play that makes you want to rush home and embrace your loved ones. Which must be worth it, at twice the price. Meet Me at Dawn runs through April 27, 2025, at the Marcelle Theatre, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.upstreamtheater.org. Cast: Production Staff: * Denotes Member, Actors' Equity Association |
