NINETY
NINETY, Ensemble Theatre, February 4-April 3, 2010
MEMORY is a slippery thing and when a marriage has foundered, it can become not only impossible to grasp but also an unpredictable weapon of war between the parties. It is multi-layered, constantly shifting and capable of a variety of interpretations. Memory is treacherous.
For Isabel (Kate Raison) and William (Brian Meegan) the memories of their marriage are simultaneously what keep them together (in her mind) and apart (in his). She wants him to see them clearly, while he has reconfigured them to suit his purpose: of leaving her and remarrying a younger woman.
Or it may not be quite like that: the essence of memory is that it looks different depending on your point of view. And William and Isabel are good at points of view, particularly opposing ones. He is an actor, she is an art historian and restorer; points of view are their business; hidden stories, underlying meanings and revealed meanings their stock in trade.
Playwright Joanna Murray Smith has crafted a thoughtful yet funny two-hander that offers many moments of recognition for all ages and stages of relationships. At one point Isabel speaks poignantly of “the resilience of hope” – which is something she’s hanging on to. But is it optimism or blind, obsessive obstinacy on her part? It’s hard to imagine a man so determinedly wanting to hold on to a partner who’s decided to walk, or is that not so?
For his part, William is desperate for Isabel to be okay about the end of their marriage; he doesn’t want to feel guilty nor be asked awkward questions about his new, younger love, his new clothes, his new fame and his new attitudes. “Love is not noticing too much” is William’s take on the Love Story maxim and he really, really wants Isabel to shut her eyes and do closure, or whatever else she’s supposed to try in order to let him get on with his new life and leave the old one behind.
Isabel has persuaded him to agree to give her 90 of his precious, movie star minutes before his car will pick him up to take him to his next wedding. He arrives at her apartment and behaves as if she’s booby-trapped the place. In a sense she has, but her IEDs are memories rather than conventional improvised explosive devices. Through a series of enacted flashbacks (lighting Bernie Tan) Isabel ambushes him with recollections of their early lives together. It isn’t easy or straightforward. He so badly doesn’t want to love her anymore he is savage in refusing to acknowledge the happinesses. She is like a punch-drunk boxer who will not, cannot, fall down and keeps coming forward and soaking up the punishment.
Finally, the reason why they came apart and why he is so paralysed with horror at looking back is revealed. It is a classic relationship breaker and the effect on both of the heart-rending reminiscence is genuinely affecting. Murray-Smith’s ability as a writer of comic moments and quirky laughs keeps it this side of unbearable, but it’s a balancing act. Raison is the one who teeters closest to disaster because her role permits it and she goes to the edge and is spellbinding. Meegan has the tougher call, perhaps, because his role is less sympathetic: William must react with hostility and cruelty to Isabel in ways that would have many women wanting to jump down on the stage and punch his lights out.
At the same time, there is the underlying knowledge that in real life the two are happily married and go home together every night. It’s weird and must be even weirder for them! It also leads to the thought that William would have to be certifiable to leave Isabel for a popsy – if it’s actually Brian and Kate. Such is the morphing effects of the two in the roles. Nevertheless, directed with a gentle hand by Sandra Bates, Meegan and Raison make the 90 minutes of their final marital skirmish a gripping one that also provokes bursts of laughter and gasps of recognition from time to time. Will it all come to naught? Will they live happily ever after? Will Isabel win? What is winning and what does William really want anyway? And when Isabel strips back and restores old paintings is she really flaying herself alive with the ideas and remembrances of things past? Why not find out.
