| . | 01/09/2010
Little Gem
By: Deirdre Donovan
Photos by Futoshi Sakauch.
Elaine Murphy’s Little Gem has a lot going for it. The critics and public loved it at the Dublin Fringe and its later staging at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009. And, not surprisingly, the show garnered top awards at both festivals. Now under the auspices of The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation and the assistance of Culture Ireland, this award-winning play makes its American premiere at the Flea Theater.
The play is about three generations of women and one extraordinary year that changed their lives. As the play begins, we meet the 18-year-old Amber (Sarah Greene), her mother Lorraine (Hilda Fay) who’s in her late-thirties, and her grandmother Kay (Anita Reeves) who’s in her early sixties. Each character tells us, in turn, her life story, speaking through the fourth wall with unabashed directness. As their stories unfold, we learn that they have all loved, not wisely, but too well. Whether it’s Amber sharing her experience of an unwanted pregnancy and motherhood, Lorraine recounting her failed marriage and search for a new lover, or Kay remembering how she coped with her dying husband and her own loneliness, they all have lost at the serious game of love. Set in modern-day Dublin, their three stories interpenetrate and must be apprehended in their totality. But no doubt Little Gem will hit you where you live.
Under the solid direction of Paul Meade, the play is appealing for the same reason campfire stories keep everybody enthralled. Amber, Lorraine, and Kay hold our attention because they are digging down into the deepest part of their personalities and revealing the essence of themselves. Even if we have never found ourselves in similar circumstances, it’s easy to care about these multi-faceted—and vulnerable--women. Their mistakes in love, their real need for companionship, their hopes for a better life, all ring true.
Unlike some plays with all-female casts, it doesn’t get bogged down with excessive sentimentality. Murphy doesn’t preach, or hit you over the head with any message or moral. Yet all the big questions are raised in this drama, and no stone is left unturned by the playwright. So, is it a work that speaks more to women than to men? No, not at all. Little Gem will delight any playgoer who likes stories delivered in an unvarnished manner with surprising twist and turns.
The playwright’s ability to load simple sentences with highly charged psychological freight is amazing. For example, Amber’s reaction to negative criticism about her pregnancy is summed up in her stiletto-sharp retort to a girlfriend: “She doesn’t look the Mae West herself.” Amber fully realizes that she has created a tough situation for herself in becoming pregnant at 18. But she surely isn’t about to play the victim. In fact, there are so many good lines in this play that reveal each woman’s dilemma, and how each dilemma was remolded into a new path of life.
The play’s language is colorful but it may take you some time to adjust your ear to its Irish idiom. Just don’t try to pin down every word spoken by the three women. It’s far better to catch the general drift of each narrative. And since the major events are communicated in plain English, you can inevitably intuit all the goings-on in their complex lives.
This is an ensemble effort, and everybody acts with their heart suitably on their sleeve. Sarah Greene, who plays Amber, has plenty of spunk; Hilda Fay, as Lorraine, is endearingly awkward as a single Mom with a new lover; Anita Reeves, as Kay, is both the dutiful spouse and deliciously eccentric grandmother.
No, there are no hat tricks to wow us; no special effects to distract our attention from the unspooling stories. In fact, the power of this production is in its utter simplicity: three women seated on a threadbare stage (set design by Alice Butler; lighting by Mark Galione), baring their hearts, souls, and sex lives.
Following this New York run, Little Gem crosses the pond to perform at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. So if you enjoy a story that grabs you by your heartstrings, seize the day, and go to this show. It’s won’t disappoint.
Little Gem, at The Flea Theater, 41 White Street (between Broadway and Church Street).
Tickets are $40. Phone OvationTix at 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111 or visit www.theflea.org .
Through January 16th.
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