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Regional Reviews: St. Louis The Wanderers Also see Richard's reviews of Classic Adventure Movie; Or Never Say Die, The Cottage and Raisin
But I don't want to scare you off! Because our crack team of researchers has told me you'd much prefer car chases and space aliens. Fear not: Anna Ziegler's romantic drama has all those same reckless twists and turns, along with two or three strange alien identities. All that, under the weirdly invisible direction of Robert Quinlan at the New Jewish Theatre. He makes everything go so smoothly, it really seems to happen on its own. The play is all about love, and what it takes away, and what it gives you back. Which certainly feels like car crashes and bizarre alien romance, in this staging, which runs about an hour and fifty minutes without intermission. The Wanderers began its onstage life in 2018 at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. This production is perfectly cast with five wonderful actors including Joel Moses as Abe, a famous author going through a flamboyant (in a way that all wives recognize) midlife crisis; but that may just be because Wendy Renée Greenwood is so breathtakingly naturalistic as Abe's wife Sophie, who's also an adventurous writer. You can sense that she must have been a "manic pixie dream girl" when they knew each other as children. But then she turned into a mom, and somehow her writing went too far outside of the zeitgeist. And now she feels a bit lost. Early on, The Wanderers seems like parallel struggles over living in the present versus the eternal, and another pair of struggles over person versus reputation. It all begins as Abe (Mr. Moses) conducts a reading of his work in some bookstore or banquet room. There, he's star-struck by a glamorous Hollywood actress who happens to be in the audience, Julia Cheever, played by the exceptional Maggie Wininger. And then we're thrown backward into the 1970s and the "alien" world of Orthodox Jews, in the play's parallel timeline. Abe's parents (Bryce A. Miller as Schmuli and Jade Cash as Esther) arrive in their honeymoon bedroom, very awkward and hilarious in unlikely ways. Every one of their last virginal moments together seems comically accidental or shockingly intentional. So you just know there actually had to be a director, because the whole scene fans and flares like a fancy card trick. Abe's young father Schmuli is probably the least artful-seeming character on the written page. Paradoxically, though, the actor playing him is the most effortlessly charming and graceful of the bunch. And we can sort of guess how it all has to end. But Mr. Miller and director Quinlan (and the terrific set designer Reiko Huffman) make it blessedly magical in spite of our anticipations. The lighting is by Jayson Lawshee with a great artistic interpretation (overhead) of the para-social relationships of modern life: a spread-out nest of tiny shimmering lights. And as the writer and movie star correspond, it all twinkles above the pair. The fine costumes are by Michele Friedman Siler, with sound design by Amanda Werre which, I regret to say, I don't remember at all. Like the "invisible direction," I suppose it just sneaks right by. Jade Cash is Schmuli's young wife, magnificent in miniature: revealing her own worries and faltering stoicism and newfound independence, which will become scornful to her son Abe, fairly or not, years later. And as sincerely traditional as this Schmuli is gently made out to be, both have managed to land their son Abe in a life-long struggle over the wretch he's become, long after a shocking custody standoff. For the average adult, the most chilling thing may be how it all revolves around (and seemingly makes impossible) the lovers' search for both identity and relationship. It almost seems like you can't have them as a pair, not at the same time. Not even in the artful chatter of the "present-day" husband and wife, which is quite charming. Throw your identity away, we seem to be told, because relationship is the highest tradition. It may be a slightly bizarre theme, overall. But it's made universal by two–or rather, three–heartwrenching romances. The Wanderers, produced by the New Jewish Theatre, continues through September 28, 2025, at the Jewish Community Center, #2 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.newjewishtheatre.org. Cast: Production Staff: Production Manager: Isabelle Scheibe Box Office Coordinator & Guest Services Coordinator: Alex Gilbert House Manager: Jeff David Yiddish Pronunciation Guide: Joe Ferris Additional Choreography: Lynnsie Kantor Advisor: Dr. Alvin Goldfarb * Denotes Member, Actors' Equity Association |
