When you leave the production of “Becky Nurse of Salem” at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany you’ll remember the dynamic performance of Brenny Campbell in the lead role. Oddly, you’ll not be likely to care much about Becky, the character she plays. For that matter, while the play has many strong moments and the production is of high quality there is little in the work that is affecting.
Playwright Sarah Ruhl has written a play that wants to put a light on the problems of working class people in the United States. Maybe.
It’s also possible she wanted to write a play that says the plight of females hasn’t changed much in America since 1692. Maybe.
Or, she wanted to highlight the problems of the Opioid epidemic and mental health problems that plague the country. Maybe.
The work is so vague, it’s difficult to define. Probably, she wanted to do all of the above and present it with humor. The result is a work that fluctuates between comedy and insightful social commentary. While there are plenty of laughs in the show, it’s not really a comedy. Too, because it’s more about social observation than anything else, it isn’t an emotional night of theater. It’s a night filled with special moments that is, overall, without impact.
What you are likely to remember is the determined performance of Campbell, good supporting acting, great production values and a thoughtful, cleverly designed set that cannot overcome the numerous choppy scenes that intrude on the action of the first act.
Playwright Ruhl uses a middle-aged woman to demonstrate what it’s like to be an uneducated, 52-year old grandmother who suddenly finds herself unemployed. How does she pay the bills? How does she take care of her 16-year old granddaughter who was just released from a hospital for treatment of Depression? How does she find comfort from another human being?
To give some idea of Becky’s problem solving skills - she seeks help from a witch. This from a person living in Salem, MA, who spent 20 years as a guide in the Salem Witch Museum and is a direct descendent of Rebecca Nurse, a 71-year old woman who was hanged after being accused of being a witch.
Most bizarrely, this woman , who lost her daughter to a drug overdose, turns to opioids to relieve her pains. Compounding a number of questionable life choices, she romances a married man.
That Campbell is able to evoke sympathy for the plight of this woman is an achievement. That it’s impossible to care about her is the playwright’s failure, not the actors’. Becky’s life is sad, without being tragic. Society has offered her little help, but it becomes clear the woman is a victim of bad life choices as much as she is a victim of an unfeeling social structure. Worse, it’s likely that Becky’s future will most likely look like her past.
In the second act the playwright takes the play into abstract territory by having Becky go through a pinhole of history and have her life run parallel with that of the original Rebecca Nurse. It’s a concept that tries to introduce large social and political views into the play. While wildly imaginative and well executed, it adds unneeded complexity to the work.
Another problem is with the exception of Becky’s love interest, Bob, played with soft-spoken supportive charm by James Joseph O’Neil, the supporting characters hardly serve the play. They seem to have been given quirks for the purpose of accenting the absurdity of Becky’s life. The cast serve their characters well but no one is exceptional enough to make artificial creations feel genuine.
Director Margaret E. Hall cannot overcome the disjointed material and the play plods scene after scene. Neither the characters nor the story line is fluid nor connected. This is disastrous when trying to tell a too complicated story. Opening night took two and a half hours, with an intermission, to tell a story that is usually done in two.
The stars of the production are the tech staff. They include Daniel Conway’s set design, Elivia Bovenzi Blitz’s costumes, Shelby Loera’s lighting, Kylee Loera’s projections and a crew that made the many changes swiftly and efficiently. I wish the material was as impressive as was the presentation.
“Becky Nurse of Salem” continues at The Rep in Albany through October 19. For tickets and schedule information go attherep.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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