By John Lyle Belden
We often find wit and wisdom in tragic moments, and in “Joined at the Head,” playwright Catherine Butterfield looked into an event in her own life for inspiration.
In the current production, presented by The Belfry Theatre at The Cat in Carmel, directed by Larry Adams, a 30-something writer’s return to her old hometown finds her connecting with an old flame, but with an interesting twist.
Maggie Mulroney (Kat Krebs) has finally written a bestseller, a novel about a father-daughter relationship she says is inspired by hers with her own father, who died from cancer years ago. Her bookstore tour brings her to Newbridge, Mass., where she grew up. While there, Jim Burroughs (Kelly Keller), her steady boyfriend in high school, calls to invite her to his house to catch up, and to meet his wife.
Curious and nervous, she goes. His wife, coincidentally named Maggy (Dana Lesh), was a cheerleader in the next-younger class and a straight-arrow personality, so not in the social circle of misbehaving Jim and Maggie. Now, she is in a loving marriage to Jim – and struggling with advanced cancer. Though an understandably awkward meeting at first (one of many humorous moments), they find they share some personality traits as well as homonym names.
As Butterfield’s proxy, Maggie also acts as narrator, frequently stepping up to the fourth wall to elaborate on the scenes. To keep her story straight, Maggy occasionally – to Maggie’s chagrin – steps up and ensures the narrative stays on track.
In various roles are the ensemble of Lexi Gray (including a charming Bed & Breakfast proprietor), Sammie Maier (including an appearance as Maggie’s mother), Sydney Heller (including a hospital nurse), Ben Lagow (including Raymond Terwilliger of PBS station WGBH’s “Best of Boston”), Ethan Pierce, and Zach Buzan.
The story goes to numerous settings, so the simple scenic design by Scott Post (decoration by Claudia Macrae) relies on the flow of the actors and lighting by Eric Matters to nimbly help us see them in whatever places our imagination fills in, aided by a clever single panel at the center of the back of the stage.
At Adams’ urging, the three leads delve into the serious complexity of their relatable characters. We’ve seen Keller in so many modes; this shows him at his most vulnerable as the devoted husband taking on Herculean tasks as best he can. Krebs’s Maggie finds herself as the novelist who apparently writes about others to avoid taking a deeper look at herself. Something about the encounter with her namesake starts her on a journey she is afraid to admit she’s taking. Lesh, who we’ve usually seen in a supporting role or in the director’s chair, really shows her command of the stage here. Given Maggy’s struggle, and the saintly good nature with which she confronts it, if this were Broadway she’d be up for a Tony.
While there is gentle dark humor to be had in this story, the plotline of advancing disease might be a challenge for some viewers, depending on one’s own experience. This is a story not only of one woman’s bravery, but of two other people engaging their own. As in other plays in this tragicomic sort of genre, cancer may take a person’s last breath, but it does not get the last word.
Performances of “Joined at the Head” are 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (May 22-24) at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, near the downtown Carmel Art & Design district. For info and tickets, go to thebelfrytheatre.com or thecat.biz.
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