I really didn't belong there. I wasn't invited. I didn't know these women. I felt like a voyeur observing the most intimate moments of a family's life. But it wasn't real; it was Katie Forgette's play, The O'Conner Girls, on the stage of Scripps Ranch Theater.
Mother Sarah O'Conner (D'Ann Paton) and daughters Liz and Martha (Aimee Nelson and Kelly Lapczynski) have just returned from the funeral of husband and father, Tom. They have already begun the arduous task of sorting through his many boxes of memorabilia. What to save? What to give or throw away? Pawing through this mess provides occasional insights and certainly memories. What we leave behind tells much about our values. Twins Liz and Martha couldn't possibly be more different. Liz is a beauty trying desperately stay 20 in a body knocking on 40. Martha has reached maturity maturely. Liz is a thrice-married wiz California real estate salesperson. Never married, Martha has taken leave for the last year from her unglamourous job to tend to her ailing father and aid her stressed mother.
One commonality is their love for classic films of the fifties and before, which they saw as kids. They are often challenging each other with single lines from their favorites. Sarah shows an amazing level of resolve. His last year had been very tough for her and Martha.
We meet bubbly Aunt Margie, Meghan Kaheny, part Catholic yenta, and hyperactive about everything. She is a perfect counterpoint to revelations of relationships we are about to experience concerning the O'Conner family. Painfully shy Dr. David Stevens (Daniel Kosoy), a family friend, himself in transition, reveals his true feelings after several fitful attempts.
While playwright Forgette provides enlightening dialogue, these five actors bring The O'Conner Girls to life, a life so convincing it becomes our reality. It is indeed exciting to see actors so together in their roles and relationships. Paton slowly peels away the life and marital relationship of Sarah. One feels her frustration.
Nelson, whose character is the great deceiver, shows a level of pain seldom seen on the stage. Lapczynski, in her best role to date, subtly brings Martha's internal depth to the surface in moments of enlightenment. Kaheny, as Aunt Margie, consistently bursts through the thick structure of the Irish Roman Catholic background of her sister, giving fresh air in a beclouded environment. One does not mention the Lord's name without a Catholic chant. It is Kosoy's Dr. Stevens, the outsider, who brings a strange bit of light and love to the group. Forgette has forged a powerful family drama. There is somebody in the group with whom almost everybody can identify. Forgette also offers closure in a charming way to the death of Tom. While this end works for the story, it lacks drama, although the last scene is worth the price of admission in a play where just about every scene should receive the same accolade. What a cast!
