By Tom Scanlon
Intiman
closes Aug. 26
In Seattle, a talented cast and razor-sharp director pump up this flawed play, making it not only entertaining, but riveting. Even they can’t save the third act, which sinks like a leaking balloon.
Nevertheless, director Jon Jory’s production is a success . . . even if you wish such impressive ammunition would be aimed at a more formidable target.
Michael Winters is hugely impressive as a Shaw-like grouch of an old man, a retired (washed-up?) sea captain searching for a higher level of enlightenment in his odd, sprawling (seeming, at least) home.
Kate Goehring plays his married, stay-at-home daughter with bizarre, inventive gestures that suggest Katharine Hepburn on hallucinogens. Even the most mundane line becomes an adventure, with her peculiar deliveries.
Guthrie veteran Stephen Pelinski, following up his savagely good Richard III, is just as adept at broad comedy, bringing dash and laughs to Hector Hushabye.
Suzanne Bouchard seems to excel in whatever she takes on, and her Lady Utterword is no exception to this rule. As the Captain’s black-sheep daughter, she deliciously plays both sides of the fence, seductress and victim; if you can be simultaneously sexy and witty, your name must be Suzanne Bouchard.
And if you are hilarious in everything you do, you are R. Hamilton Wright, who finds a handful of hilarious moments in what should be a cardboard, secondary character.
Laurence Ballard and David Pichette do slight variations on their usuals, both having several good, solid scenes, and both pandering “cute.” One wishes Jory had pushed them harder.
Christopher Akerlind’s sets – interior Sussex home for the first two acts, deck/garden for the second – are inviting, long-lasting eye candy. The interior is particularly zesty, a house that looks like an elegant shipwreck.
