Jonathan Waxman, the main character of Donald Margulies' Sight Unseen, has some major issues to sort out in his life. Although his provocative paintings have made him the darling of the American art scene, he has become jaded by fame. The death of his father, who never approved of his work, has complicated his life as well, and, before the opening of his new retrospective in London, he finds himself dealing with even more personal issues at the country farm of his former lover, Patricia (Ellen Blain, TD '98), and her droll English husband, Nick (Nathaniel Jacobson, MC '96). To top it all off, at the retrospective itself, he is forced to answer the harsh, probing questions of Grete (Marisa Matarazzo, SM '99), a German art critic who, in her spare time, bleeds Teutonic sexuality all over the whole gallery.
Waxman, however, finds some of his long-gone youthful spark in the form of one of his earliest paintings, now hanging on Patricia and Nick's wall. This painting, quite possibly the "sight unseen" of the title, serves as a constant reminer of the bygone passion between Jonathan and Patricia-and also as the object of Nick's unending resentment. He is all too willing to let his emotions be known; after Patricia asks him if Jonathan can have their bed during his stay, he quips: "He already has it."
John Patrick Higgins, TC '98, does a decent job as Waxman. He is best during the play's scenes of flashback-his youthful awkwardness during his first meeting with Patricia, and, in contrast, his eerie coldness toward her while sitting shivah after his mother's death, are both conveyed excellently. However, his acting and, consequently, the drama, sags slightly during the scenes when Nick and Patricia are at the farmhouse.
Blain is very good and shows terrific range as she varies between feelings of disgust for her environment and, in the flashbacks, youthful idealism. Matarazzo does a good job as well. Although her accent is more Russian than German, she is still reminiscent of the sexy Nazi in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Her physical and psychological cornering of Waxman during the interview scenes make for some of the tautest drama in the play.
The real standout of the cast, though, is Jacobson, who captures Nick's brilliant dry wit and obvious disdain for Waxman perfectly. The nuances he uses to convey emotion are also expertly executed; he is often able to get across Nick's emotions with little more than a shift of his voice's tone and an oddly placed glance. Consequently, his presence lifts the relatively dry farmhouse scenes.
However, the direction by Christopher White, TD '98, leaves something to be desired. The scenes between Waxman and Patricia contain more strangely placed pauses than William Shatner's version of Mr. Tambourine Man. Most of these breaks are followed with changes in the characters' emotions, making many of the scenes emotionally disjointed.
Also somewhat strange are the characters' movements around the stage-countless times during dialogue, the characters circle around the sets and then stop, look directly into each others' eyes, and then circle around again. This transpires in an especially bizarre fashion during the scenes between Waxman and Grete-apparently, her interviewing technique involves springing out of her chair and chasing her subject around the room for a while.
The sets, designed by Jason Lear, BK '97, are also interesting-white walls with empty frames and easels hanging off of them with sparse props-and the costumes by Sara Hume, TC '98, match them perfectly.
There is little color in the play, with both the scenery and the characters' clothes done in blacks, whites, and dark, muted colors. The sole exceptions occur in the flashbacks; colors, apparently, represent Waxman and Patricia's forgotten idealism.
Whether in color or black-and-white, though, Sight Unseen is, more or less, a sight worth seeing.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article may be freely distributed electronically, provided it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice, but may not be reprinted without the express written permission of The Yale Herald, Inc. Write to herald@yale.edu for additional details.