through March 15, 2015
by Bernadette Johnson
Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak has admitted hesitating to
include Matthew Lopez’s “Reverberation” – a bold play that is “rather frank –
about love and sexuality; gay, straight, and in between” – in the current
season lineup. Luckily for Hartford Stage theatergoers, Tresnjak trusted his
audience, and this compelling piece of theatre is currently making its world
debut before Hartford audiences.
Lopez is no stranger to HS. A young talent and prolific
playwright, his award-winning work “The Whipping Man” garnered rave reviews
here in 2012. Now, with “Reverberation,” Lopez has definitely scored once
again. Yes, this is a tale of love and sexuality, but more so, it is emotion
laid bare – grief, loneliness, desperation, desolation – as his characters
(Jonathan, grieving the untimely death of his longtime lover; Claire, the new
upstairs neighbor; and Wes, one of Jonathan’s one-night-stands) struggle to
give their lives meaning.
Each actor is powerful and authentic in his/her respective
role, making audience members forget they are actually watching a play, but
feeling, rather, caught up in the maelstrom that is their lives. The emotions
are genuine, their expression raw and riveting. Luke Macfarlane’s Jonathan is
enshrouded by grief, withdrawn and dispirited. Aya Cash’s Claire is vibrant,
probing and challenging, an extroverted foil to Jonathan’s self-absorbed
character, a clash that eventually dissolves, at least temporarily, into an
interdependent affinity. Carl Lundstedt’s Wes displays a trusting boyish innocence
and is delightfully love-struck. Silences and hesitations speak volumes.
Unfortunately, many tête-à-têtes between Jonathan and Claire are close and
intimate, so much so that some dialogue is lost.
Scenic Designer Andromache Chalfant’s impressive multilevel
Astoria, Queens’ apartment house with adjacent four flights of stairs is more
than a setting. Although told that both apartments are identical, Jonathan’s is
as cluttered as his mind, whereas Claire’s upstairs unit is sparse, as
unsettled as she is. Act II adjustments note the passage of time and suggest
that they have both moved on.
Tei Blow’s music and sounds are loud and chaotic, at times
bordering on annoyingly so, until one begins to associate the dissonance with
the characters’ states of mind.
