A stylish, apocalyptic 'Optimism' unsettles

By Susanna Chu

"But Love has pitched his mansion in / The place of excrement; / For nothing can be sole or whole / That has not been rent." William Butler Yeats's disturbing words capture the essence of Tom Murphy's troubling The Morning After Optimism.

ITAI MAYTAL/YH

'The Morning After Optimism' endows its forest setting with violent potential

In the hands of producer Jeffrey Ross, SM '98, and director Christopher White, TD '99, brutality and madness rend the delicate fabric of love into shreds-- without making anything "sole or whole." In a world of lunatic fantasy, it is violence unites characters and plot.

Conventions are reversed and notions of morality banished. The action of the play takes place in a forest, but threatening branches disrupt the benign wooded setting familiar to theater-goers. Designed by Jonathan Toews, TD '98, the set evokes a world of imminent danger and bristling violence. Toews's "forest" of trees, resembles axes, echoing the sharp edges of human consciousness while still representing a "pastoral" scene of malignancy.

This landscape suits James (Jon Kotchian, BK '97), the savage protagonist of the play. James, first seen wielding a knife and prowling around the stage like a malevolent sprite, eventually draws the other characters into the deranged world that he shares with his lover of long standing, Rosie (Anne Martin, SM '98). Together, these enfants terrible enterprise to destroy the innocence of another couple, Anastasia (Maiya Murphy, CC '99) and Edmund (Andrew Grusetskie, 'TD'98).

Kotchian gives a dynamic performance as the brutal James. Every movement and facial expression contributes to the effect of madness and derangement, without straying so far into the realm of irrationality that the audience ceases to feel a connection with the character. In his performance, Kotchian succeeds in becoming James, convincingly
bridging the gap between actor and acted. Martin also
brings energy to her performance, endowing Rosie with
all the passionate depravity that the character demands.

But the demands on Murphy and Grusetskie are even greater: they must be naive and innocent before an audience accustomed to regarding naiveté as a nineteenth-century relic. White handles this demand well by exaggerating the innocence of Anastasia and Edmund, so that they become comic figures in this very dark comedy. They are, indeed, relics of a past era--Edmund sports a hunting outfit reminiscent of Robin Hood, and Anastasia, a yellow frilly dress that screams adolescent innocence. Designed by Elizabeth Goodman, TD '98, these costumes add a touch of cheesiness to the characters of Anastasia and Edmund and help to relieve the stifling malevolence created by James and Rosie.

The music also contributes to lighten the atmosphere of the play. Dramatically matching the moods of each scene, it emphasizes the nature of mock romance characterizing the play, and constitutes a witty commentary on the follies of the actors. The lighting,, while not wildly innovative, suits the needs of the production. Under the technical direction of Jason Hughes, BR '98, the show's elements merge together flawlessly.

But even with its fine components, The Morning After Optimism fails to hold its audience for its quite considerable length. Much of the "action" of the play revolves around a kitchen table, and the long discussions that Murphy delights in sink the audience under their weight. While the director and actors do all they can with the script, a stagnant swamp of dialogue remains at the center of the play The entire cast copes admirably. The fight scene, choreographed by Dale Girard, does much to enliven the stage after the extended scene at the kitchen table. Still, there is only so much one can do with a flawed script.

It is the script, also, that lends the play ambiguity. While The Morning After Optimism concentrates on evoking moods rather than rational reasoning, there is much that could and should be made clearer to the audience. The program contains quotations from traditional Irish folk tales and the poetry of W.B. Yeats. Though Edmund recites some lines of Yeats early in the play, this association is never clarified.

Many issues that could be brought to the forefront are also left to molder in the background. A little consideration of social and moral questions, for example, could give the play some of the substance which it seems to lack. Edmund, a prince, and James, a former pimp, stand at opposite ends of the social spectrum. The dichotomy within Edmund and James's relationship--the different opportunities available to each, and their conflicting moral values--would lend a good deal of weight to the production.

But if substance is lacking, style is not. Under excellent direction, a strong cast tears love and other delicate sentiments into shreds in a polished depiction of madness and depravity. In Yeats's words, "A terrible beauty is born."

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