In her first season as Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Mandy Greenfield has taken bold steps to establish her own imprint within this much respected and awarded summer theater.
She has stated, “The Williamstown Theatre is equally committed to established as well as living playwrights.” Her opening production of this new season appears to meet both objectives. Off the Main Road is a premiere staging of a drama by the late playwright, William Inge. The manuscript for this play was discovered in his files after his death in 1973…two decades after he won awards for such notable works as Come Back Little Sheba, Picnic, Bus Stop, and others.
In the annals of contemporary American playwrights, Inge is viewed with the same esteem as some of his better known contemporaries: Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams. In his works, Inge focused on women who had lost their vision of life, and sought solace through alcohol, and remembrance of past happiness…such as Lola, who – unable to cope with her husband’s weaknesses – calls into the night for her lost dog, Sheba.
This drama Off the Main Road, centers on Faye, who has fled with her teenage daughter to a rural cabin near St. Louis. Faye: lanky, lovely, poised, charming…and shallow. A debutante product of finishing school, first married to a much older man, who conveniently soon died and left her a fortune. Faye then married a hometown baseball star, whose violent temper subjected her to isolation and physical abuse.
When Faye’s mother tries to comprehend her daughter’s unhappiness and lack of fulfillment, Faye responds that she might find herself a job. Her mother scolds her with: “You weren’t brought up to work. You’ve not prepared for anything.”
And so the audience discovers.
This is a play about demons, entrapment, ego, love and escape from reality. Virtually all the characters encounter and respond to these happenings. Faye seeks adventure in flirtations and booze, while also urging her daughter to seek love from an attractive youth who works at the lodge they have rented. The teenage girl is torn between spiritual love she has discovered in her religion, while also experiencing the sexual pull of her of her years.
Author Inge has written a tableau with nonstop action, keeping the audience interested. Interested, yes…even intrigued…but not necessarily empathetic.
Under the direction of Evan Cabnet, the entire cast is excellent. The stories within the story maintain our attention, and go beyond the sometimes-tepid dialogue. In the leading role as Faye, Emmy Award winner Kyra Sedgewick gives a vibrant performance of the vicissitudes that confront her. She is ably supported by much-admired Estelle Parsons as her mother...and Mary Wiseman as the indecisive daughter.
To quote director Cabnet, “I’m drawn to stories of complicated women…. As is the case with Inge’s work, this is investigating the inner lives of complicated, surprising, endlessly rich women characters.”
Indeed, Off the Main Road reflects the remarkable talent of William Inge in delineating characters and telling a story. It’s a fine drama – well worth and receiving a fine presentation – even if the play doesn’t quite measure up to his best output in the 1950s. In some respects, you might consider it William Inge “lite.”
Off the Main Road plays now through July 19th at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. Massachusetts.
Herbert Wolff studied under the guidance of Lee Strasberg and subsequently had roles with summer theater companies in upstate New York and on live television. He is former vice president of International Television Association and former Chairman of Massachusetts Advisory Council on Scientific and Technical Education. Herb continues to write, direct and appear in stage plays. For 25 years he has been the on-air reviewer of theater and opera productions for WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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