Can a nursing home be the site of a comedy? Playwright Tina Howe gives a resounding "Yes!" and successfully pulls off her concept in her new play, Chasing Manet.
In a pleasant New England nursing-home room, cranky Catherine Sargent (Jane Alexander) fumes about, often crying "Out!" The elegant, Boston-born former painter doesn't want to be there. Just because she's legally blind, why should she be there? Her frequent verbal fisticuffs with her son Royal (Jack Gilpin), who put her there, display her wrath.
Catherine is soon joined by a new roommate, the slightly ditzy but charming Rennie Waltzer (Lynn Cohen), who suffers from dementia, and feels none the worse for it, for it fuels her vivid and lively imagination. She thinks this place is a fancy hotel, with a view of a beach -- or is it a park? Often, her deceased husband Herschel is there with her. What could be nicer?
Although Rennie is confined to a wheelchair, life is good. Being very friendly, she readily overlooks Catherine's acerbic tongue, and the two make friends. In fact, Catherine genuinely likes Rennie, and furthermore, a plan begins to formulate in Catherine's mind. Rennie can be her ticket -- both their tickets -- out of there, and on to Paris, Catherine's dream destination.
The mechanics of putting this plan into action become the centerpiece of the play. Catherine phones the QE 2 office and makes (very expensive) reservations for two on the classy ocean liner. Then, they've somehow got to get ahold of Rennie's passport. Nursing-home employees like efficient but caring nurse Esperanza (Vanessa Aspillaga) might be a stumbling block. Aide Charles (Rob Riley) might also get in the pair's way, but on the other hand, maybe he could be enlisted to join them. Rita (Julie Halston), Rennie's bourgeois New Jersey daughter, must unknowingly be maneuvered into helping the plan take wing or set sail.
The aforementioned actors Aspillaga, Riley, Gilpin and Halston, are multi-cast and do a terrific job of slipping into several other identities, as does David Margulies, who skillfully masters three roles. In fact, it's difficult to identify them in their other roles.
The regal Jane Alexander not only knows how to time a punchline but has the gift of winning sympathy for a character who is not always likeable. On the other hand Lynn Cohen's Rennie exudes lovableness, serving as a worthy foil for Alexander's Catherine.
Director Michael Wilson moves the pace right along, and it's a pleasure to see set designer Tony Straiges' pleasant nursing home set instead of some drab room; lighting designer Howell Binkley backs up the effect. Not to be omitted is mention of the one painting on Catherine's wall, a copy of course, of Manet's famed "Le dejeuner sur l'herbe" (Luncheon on the grass), which had shocked the Parisian public years ago, displaying, as it did, a nude woman enjoying a picnic with two properly clothed gentlemen. Here is a tangible example of freedom of expression and the flouting of convention.
A sense of fun and suspense inhabits the proceedings, as not until the last moment does the success or failure of Catherine's desired "out" venture make itself known. It is a true surprise, and one that is greeted with cheers by the audience. I won't give it away. I'll only quote Tennessee Williams's heroine, Blanche du Bois, in A Streetcar Named Desire, when she exclaims, "I don't want reality. I want magic."
