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The Memory of Water Circle Theatre's North Texas premiere of Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water presents the story of three Northern England sisters, who are planning the final touches on their mother's (Vi - Kristina Baker) funeral. Mary (Ellen Locy), the eldest, is a doctor who is having an affair with Mike (Bill Jenkins), a married doctor who hosts a local TV show. Teresa (Beth Bontley), the middle daughter, along with her husband Frank (Andy Gwyn) owns a health food store. Last, but not least, the youngest daughter, Catherine (Nicole Case), can't seem to find the right man or the right path for her life. The entire piece takes place on Nathan D. Landrum's beautifully crafted set, done up in hues of various greens (a color that seems to be a theme in the play) with dark cranberry curtains. The main set piece is an old oak bed in the center. Landrum's set gives the look of a real bedroom in England, from the various furniture pieces to the bric-a-brac strewn on the set. You can tell that all of the designers and the director really worked hard on having themes flow through their works, such as the color green. The set is colored in this, when the mother appears (as a ghost, and only to her eldest child), she is dressed in green taffeta, but the lighting (superbly created by John Leach) also bathes the mother in soft green. Barbara Cox's costumes fit the characters perfectly; they really do give the audience secondary information about these characters. Ellen Locy heads the cast as the doctor who has secrets of her own that slowly starts to crack into the story. In fact, at the beginning of the play there is discussion of the crack on the wall of the set, thus setting wonderful symbolism and foreshadowing of what is going to be revealed within the evening. Locy reminds me of Gwyneth Paltrow in "Sliding Doors": tall, blonde, and beautiful, but you see the sadness in her eyes. Locy's role has the hardest arc/apex; the girl goes through one hell of an emotional ride during the evening. But Locy keeps her character from going into hammy soap opera acting, instead pushing her performance from her emotional guts. Locy makes sure not to force the pain of her character down our throats, but keeps her just carefully tiptoeing on the cliff of emotional despair, making us feel this woman's pain even more. Just a moving performance of true acting craft. Beth Bontley plays Teresa with tics, twitches, and one of the most irritating characters ever written for the stage, but you find out why in the second act. Bontley's task is to make this "Miss know it all/I was here for momma" character likeable and accepted by the audience. She succeeds like a pro. Bronty's facial expressions are so honest, when someone on stage says something that really does not fit into Teresa's way of life or thinking, Bontley gives her a facial expression that you know is saying, "I heard, but I am not listening." It gives Bontley deep subtext that reads beautifully within Circle Theatre's intimate setting. My personal favorite, and the star of the evening, falls at the glitter platform shoes of Miss Nicole Case as Catherine. This actress steals the show with her perfect comedic timing and pace, but also delivers on the dramatic undertones of her role as the youngest daughter who in her mind has the "best" problems of anyone else around her. Case has the bulk of comic one-liners in the script, and like the true comic actress you can tell she is, she devours them with pure comedic success. Case bursts into the production dressed in tight grey pants, tight red blouse, and hilarious silver glitter platform shoes. Case's Catherine is a pot smoking, booze drinker who goes through men like tissue - and yet has her own pains and problems to deal with; and yet Case gives her role such utter despair in act two that you really know what she means and feels, she connects so brilliantly with her role and the audience. Rounding out the set of actresses is Kristina Baker as Vi, the mother of three really screwed up daughters. Baker gives Vi the undertones of a woman who wanted more out of life, to have people respect her, to really understand her. Baker, who is a beautiful woman, gives her performance such deep pathos of pain. Baker's delivery of the line to her daughter, "I respected you! But you were always ashamed of me," put a lump in my throat quickly. In that one line, Baker pushed forth 30 years of a very difficult relationship between mother and child. That is the sign a true actress. Baker's big dramatic scene with her eldest daughter is one of the finest moments in acting that I have ever seen. Both actresses, Locy and Baker, played off each other with blazing honesty. The looks of pain, of lost love, of being misunderstood, of being alone are pure theatrical magic. What is about Bill Jenkins and his DFW tour of "me and my women"? Mr. Jenkins was the sole male actor in Watertower's Ravenscroft, and now here he is (along with Andy Gwyn) again surrounded by women! Jenkins has the difficult role of a doctor who is having an affair with Mary, but his wife is ill, and there are other secrets that break through the crack of their relationship. Jenkins has classic handsome features that really work for his character's inner conflict. By this I mean that when you look at him you think, "he has it all" - but then you realize just how screwed up his life has become. Jenkins has some delicious comedic moments that bring guffaws of laughter, but he is able to rein that in and bring forth a man who dearly does love this woman. But how far can that love really go? Jenkins shows this conflict as a flicker in his eyes and face; then you really feel for him. Rounding out the cast is Andy Gwyn as Frank, a man who just goes through life, trying to make it through each day. Gwyn gives a humorous performance of this very henpecked character. But when it comes time to reveal the hidden layers of the role, Gwyn succeeds. He brings to the stage a man who really does love his wife, but he needs more out of life, and he hopes she will accept what he desires to achieve this change. Director Linda Leonard has assembled one of the best casts in the metroplex this season so far; we are talking not one weak link within the company of actors. Leonard's blocking is natural, and she makes sure to open up her "acting spaces" so we all see what is happening on stage. But she gives us "naturalism" blocking; there are times when someone's back is to you, or two characters face each other for long periods of time, as would happen in real life, and that's okay. Sure we have the theory that "the audience needs to see your face", but not all the time. Leonard knows this, so she gives the blocking purpose. Leonard has the pace at a good, natural flow and, the production clocks in at almost two and a half hours. But you don't notice it. Leonard makes sure to let the exposition get out there quickly, and there is never a lull in the actors' delivery of lines. Leonard gives her three actresses distinct blocking; for example, Case is all over that set, even on the bed, which so symbolizes her life while Bontley is more apt to walk straight lines, like her life, and Locy tends to stay in one place for long periods of time, again, just like her life. I just loved that subtext in blocking. Let me also say that the entire cast had crisp, clean and extremely believable British dialects, not "PBS Great Performance" British accents, but soothing and totally believable. I just want to also say that the ending images of of act one and act two are so moving and haunting to see, you will leave each act turning to your friend to say, in a whisper, "that was incredible". The Memory of Water at Circle Theatre's North continues through April 14, 2001. By by Shelagh Stephenson **CAST** Mary - Ellen Locy
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