If gamma rays don't blind you, kindness will

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH One big crappy family at each other's throats: a day in the life of the Huntsdorfers

Paul Zindel's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is, as the title suggests, a disorienting piece of playwriting. The stormy seas of Zindel's dysfunctional '70s American household only get more restless as the histories and disappointments of the various characters float to the surface, then sink back to the bottom as quickly as they came. Although the play is laced with a fair amount of comedy, it remains a troubling work, from its first cruel quips to the chilling calm of its final lines.

Zindel's unwillingness to package his narrative and characters neatly is a double-edged sword, however, and in the wrong hands, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds might well leave its viewers more confused than unsettled. Fortunately, this is not the case with Lilly Tuttle's, PC '00, production of the play, which is so ably put together that it is easy to look past the play's elusive moments and relish its more touching components.

The play opens with a typical day in the Huntsdorfer household: shy bookworm Tillie (Maria-Elena Kolovos, PC '02) conducts science experiments in the living room while her domineering mother Beatrice (Amanda Poppei, CC '01) dreams about the future and dodges calls from school officials regarding her daughter's absence. They are soon joined by Tillie's older sister Ruth (Elizabeth Newman, TD '02), whose hard exterior barely conceals the mental scars left by a recent nervous breakdown.

The play's first few acts limit themselves to establishing the family as dysfunctional. Beatrice heaps abuse on her daughters and on Nanny (Rachel Anne Levy, SM '00), an elderly woman left in her charge, and each responds in her own unique way. When Tillie's science project turns her into a local star, however, all of her mother's old resentments are stirred up, and the last fragile bonds that hold the family together begin to crumble.

The idea of one person's disappointment meted out on others is not a new one, but Zindel's play avoids painting characters in mere black or white, and the exceptional performances of this production's four actresses dexterously convey the shades of grey that lie in between. Poppei is fantastic as Beatrice--even when her character is at her cruelest, Poppei makes it impossible for us not to empathize with her to some degree. As Ruth, who has inherited some of her mother's frustrations and cruelty, Newman delivers her lines with the appropriate smugness, and she and Poppei play off each other nicely.

Kolovos plays Tillie with just the right degree of gentleness. Although the script casts Tillie with an almost saintly stoic, Kolovos allows moments of genuine passion to slip through when Tillie declares her love for science and for her teacher, the aptly named Mr. Goodman. Nanny's state of advanced debilitation allows Levy to do little other than babble and stare, but she does so expertly, and in her brief appearance as Tillie's student rival Janice she delivers a brilliant performance.

Tuttle's hand is further strengthened by the way in which she uses the cramped space of Calhoun Cabaret. The Huntsdorfer living room, designed by Mary Hong, MC '00, is stunningly overcrowded; all sorts of junk are stuffed into every corner. Combined with the oppressively gaudy costumes of Maki Takenouchi, PC '00, the set has a devasta-tingly claustrophobic effect. Nick Szydlowski's, CC '02, lighting is also noteworthy, occasionally bathing the characters in a red light that is far more evocative than the random musical snippets that introduce each act.

Using all of these elements, Tuttle constructs a truly impressive production of Zindel's play. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a harsh play, but Tuttle manages to extract some truly funny, touching moments. Beatrice's phone conversations with Tillie's teacher are especially good, as are her probing attempts to understand her daughter's experiments--they should ring a bell with most of us. The actual science fair uses all of the production's elements deftly, resulting in a scene that sums up the whole play in synecdoche: discomforting, sad, and sidesplittingly funny, all at the same time.

Zindel's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is not an easy piece to watch. In the end, you're left wondering whether the characters are intended to be touching portraits of humanity, cartoonishly saintly, or just cruel. Regardless of your conclusions, however, Tuttle's production ensures that we won't regret the experience.

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