Metro Pulse/Backstage/Living Together

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What:
Living Together, a play by Alan Ayckbourn

When:
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 7 p.m. through May 19

Where:
Theatre Central, 19 Market Square

Cost:
$5/$10. Call 936-2291 for more info.

Living Together makes you appreciate living alone

by Paige M. Travis

Living Together makes a good case for the eradication of family reunions. If you have one planned this summer, Theatre Central's production might make you think again about spending a few days with your relatives. Of course, your family might not resemble the characters in Alan Ayckbourn's play. The English playwright has concocted a cast of people who rarely hesitate to be mean to each other. Women henpeck their husbands, siblings bicker about coffee, and they all criticize Mother whose sickness has brought them together for a weekend in the country.

Married couple Reg (Gary Mullins) and Sarah (Mary Sue Greiner) arrive to help relieve his sister Annie (Nancy Collins) of her sickbed duties. Norman (Robby Griffith) has come to talk Annie into a romantic weekend tryst, but her fiancé Tom (Mark Palmer) is hanging around. Annie's not even sure she wants to continue the affair with Norman, since he is married to her sister Ruth (Beth Loftis) and he's a bit of a scoundrel, although a romantic one.

It's obvious from the beginning that this family is a disaster under one roof. Sarah is the dominant one who wants everything done perfectly under her strict command. Her husband Reg, who creates his own complicated board games, can't do anything right. Annie is equally critical of her fiancé Tom, a simple fellow who says "Hmm?" frequently, much to her irritation. Norman is a troublemaker. When Annie refuses to run away with him, he gets drunk and passes out in the middle of the living room floor. Later he encourages Tom to stand up to Annie's criticism with some backtalk and an insult about her dressing habits.

Since this is an English play, the actors do their best English accents. Mullins trips on his occasionally, but otherwise the affectation is mostly unobtrusive, although there's absolutely no reason this play couldn't be Americanized. What was more distracting was Mullins' ill-fitting long-sleeved shirt. And why is everyone (except Ruth) wearing winter clothes when it's supposed to be the middle of July?

Director Mark Moffett could have instructed the actors to touch each other more frequently and with more passion. If we're to believe that Norman is subtly seducing every woman in the house except Mother, then we have to see him woo them, caress them, sweep them off their feet. In kind the ladies could be more responsive to Norman, making it more believable that he is actually winning them over in some way, even if they are loathe to admit it. Griffith is charming and seductive when convincing his wife to bed down by the fireplace, but he's less alluring to Collins, and his chemistry with Greiner does nothing to lead us to guess why she suddenly defends him to his wife and lover. Even when actors have no sexual chemistry, a little more physical contact can help fill in the gaps.

Because of the lack of chemistry between characters—except for the fighting, none of the couples really seem like they're married—and the quick pace of the action and dialogue, it's a little hard to figure out Norman's true motives. Is he a player who wants a little action from these women, or does he really, innocently, just want to make everyone happy? Beth Loftis plays Ruth as such a smart and charming woman, it's hard to believe that Norman would ever lose interest in her. Unless it's because of her career. Norman is desperate for heaps of attention that Ruth can't give him because of her work, which she seems to enjoy. So Norman entertains himself with an affair with Annie. The more I think about it, the less I like Norman and the more I wish everyone in the house had thwacked him with an umbrella. Cheating is not a hobby of a respectable man, and Ruth shouldn't humor his immature games. If this play had a family therapist that's exactly what he'd recommend.

Mark Palmer makes Tom the most sympathetic character by playing him sweet and innocent. Even when he's in the middle of an argument between his cheating fiancé and her lover, he doesn't comprehend the situation. He's simply too nice for this family. As his fiancé/nemesis Annie, Nancy Collins sustains a consistent level of mild irritation. She's further aggravated by Norman's overtures, which she isn't sure she accepts or not. Gary Mullins' Reg seems used to the abuse Sarah's been dishing out for years, and he takes it in stride. Greiner's performance is hectic and hormonal. She's burdened by trying to control everything and everyone (anyone know a mom like this?), but she also shows that Sarah hasn't altogether forgotten her romantic side.

Ayckbourn is known for writing comedies, but Living Together might be too mean-spirited to strike my funny bone. English humor often has a mean streak that I find cruel while others think it's hilarious. All in all, it depends on your own sense of humor and perhaps your relationship with your family. Frankly, with all the bickering and turmoil in Living Together, I'm happy I live alone.