| OCR Text |
Show r lAE's 'Two for the Seesaw' burdened by dated material B 1-f : 4 ; ( : ; fO I . '. O "...' M A v ; f t' " by Rick Rrough There's not much to quarrel with in the acting or presentation of "Two for the Seesaw," done by the Intermountain Actors Ensemble at Kimball Art Center. The work is capable. The trouble is, it doesn't seem to have much impact. Maybe it's because the source a 1950s play set in New York doesn't travel very well across the years or the continent. Jerry Ryan (Dennis Sullivan) Sulli-van) is an Omaha lawyer eking out a living in New York. Back in the Midwest, he was not very significant to his wife (who is now divorcing him to marry one of his colleagues) or to his law firm (where the boss was his father-in-law). He latches onto the idea of loving, and guiding, Gittel Mosca (Anne Burnett) who aspires to be a dancer, has i ulcer trouble, and usually receives the short end from! her string of boyfriends. f Jerry himself isn't one to f guide anybody. He looks back too much, is irresolute o about starting again profes-1 sionally or romantically. The premise here, I suppose, is that this love affair cannot be, but in the meantime each character helps the other think more clearly about his or her life. Mostly it is Jerry's action, as he pokes, prods and analyzes both of them. Jerry goes in for what I guess is supposed to be literate stage talk. He says things like, "I'm burning my bridges before me" and calls Gittel "infant." After two hours of that kind of talk, you feel winded. Gittel is there to keep Jerry from going off the deep end. (And most of the audience laughs seem to come from her response to his yakking). Dennis Sullivan, as Jerry, and Anne Burnett, as Gittel, ponder life's tough breaks in "Two for the Seesaw." Dennis Sullivan is a good, limber actor given a not-so-great part. He captures well the incisive, restless side of Jerry, and his tendency to bite at himself and Gittel. But there's supposed to be some comic charm beneath Jerry, and that doesn't appear. (I blame the play, not Sullivan. ) He best develops a relaxed, easygoing style in a dinner scene and after attending Gittell's sickbed. As Gittell, Anne Burnett gives about the best lead performance I can recall from her. She is assured, effort less, abashed, friendly and gutsy. I can't recall a moment when she goes astray. Her only problem is she doesn't have much of a comic spark, and here again I look to the play. Director Ron Burnett keeps the action moving, and makes the best of limited props and small space in the Kimball Art Center. The two protagonists, with their cramped lives, don't seem out of place in a small stage area. And since the action is two-way, it makes sense to put the play in the middle gallery between audience sections. A Burnett trademark is to use stage music that' is off-beat yet still appropriate. (Tom Waites for "Streetcar Named Desire," for instance.) in-stance.) In this case, the musical selections were too much off the track. "Two for the Seesaw" will continue at Kimball on March 15-17. Admission is $5 general admission, $4 for Kimball members and $3 for students, senior citizens and children. |
