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The Post-Standard News
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October 31, 2002 'Close Ties' has a good message Although confusing at times, the play explores a family dealing with Alzheimer's.
Laurel Saiz, Contributing Writer With "Close Ties," Appleseed Productions has selected a work that also provides a public service: It opens dialogue about Alzheimer's disease. Director Dan Tursi has gathered a strong cast, but, unfortunately, the play, written by Elizabeth Diggs, is confusing at times, making it less successful as a gripping work. The play deals with the quickly encroaching dementia of Josephine Whitaker (Susan Palmer Everly), the matriarch of an extended family. With her in the family's summer home= are her daughter Bess (Cathy Greer-English), Bess' husband, Watson (Bob Fullenbaum), Bess and Watson's four children and the romantic interest of one of these children. If this sounds cluttered, add to the mix the fact that each of the children brings a different - and often - harsh dynamic into the touchy situation of dealing with an elderly person who is becoming more unmanageable. Everly has a formidable task, since she has to move from calm lucidity one moment to harmless befuddlement the next, veering from time to time into bursts of violent behavior. Of course, we know her character is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and this play makes a sympathetic case for the disease's victims. Appleseed is pairing with the Alzheimer's Association of Central New York and has an informational table set up in the church basement. A "talk-back" session on Alzheimer's and how it effects families is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Nov. 3, after that day's performance. Patrons of any performance can attend. Oddly, the characters in "Close Ties" never utter the word "Alzheimer's" as they talk about Grandma's problem, which they describe as "senility." The play has some dramatic subplots, and any one of them would have been sufficient to propel the intensity of the family dysfunction forward. Greer-English, for example, effectively plays the guilt of an older daughter wanting to help, but feeling frustrated. Fullenbaum is, by turns, a "take charge" kind of guy and an otherwise-engaged lawyer, who would prefer to spend hours in his law office. Daughter Anna (Nancy Amidon) raises two young children, but dreams of being an actress. She may, or may not, have flirted with Evelyn's first husband, who has left Evelyn (Kristie L. Grant) with seething angst. Grant's character is the most selfish and disagreeable of the four siblings. Her inability to connect with her good-hearted boyfriend, graduate student Ira Bienstock (Rob Stewart), leaves one wondering what he's doing with her. Lisa Coombs as Connie, the youngest sister, presents a well-grounded young woman who is also mature enough to offer some apt advice for her troubled family. Justin Noce is the teenage son, who seems like a character tossed in for some added color. He wears a Black Sabbath T-shirt, plays what he calls "stomp rock," and seems there only to add contrast to his grandmother's ragged decline. © 2002 The Post-Standard. |
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