Thoughts on The Mound Builders

Last night, I went back to my home away from home, Signature Theatre, to see a revival of Lanford Wilson's The Mound Builders.  I won't bore you with my 'I love Lanford Wilson blah blah blah'  (I do, though.)  But just know that I have been looking forward to seeing this production forever!  It seems like years since the season was announced!  I read this play years ago but have never seen it staged.  I just knew I had to be there.  I'm ever so glad I went and I'm ever so glad one of my handsome besties could join me.

The production doesn't open for over a week, so, again, I'll just offer some thoughts, since I'm sure they're still working.  Not that the script will change, but some of the things I had problems with will (hopefully) work themselves out.
The Mound Builders moves back and forth in time, from the 'present' 1975 where an academic is dictating into a tape recorder, to a summer the year before, when a team of archaeologists is working at a dig.  The play is really beautifully constructed, using the literal 'dig' to show people digging further and further into their lives, their pasts, their prejudices and our histories.  Why are we here?  What do we leave behind?  Gorgeous stuff.  I'm not sure, though, that the director has differentiated enough between the time frames.  I don't think it's enough that the use of slides will indicate 1975, and the non-use of them indicate 1974.  Perhaps the actor playing the academic could also do a little more to find the differences.  Surely, this man has changed because of what happened that summer.

For a group of people who supposedly work together all the time, the cast had a surprising lack of chemistry, or even ease with each other.  They didn't seem to be talking to each other, but rather at each other.  And, although Lanford's dialogue is beautifully naturalistic, some of these actors seemed to have problems with it.  As if they had to MAKE.SURE.WE.KNOW.EACH.WORD.IS.IMPORTANT.  That didn't really work for me at all.  Again, this will probably be worked through during previews, but it seemed odd to me that actors couldn't put this lovely language across. 

Well, they didn't miss all the time.  There were some wonderful stretches, when the actors finally let themselves be these characters, and these characters connected to each other and these beautiful ideas.  It's just that the stretches were few and far between.  Seat neighbor-wise, there were a few walk-outs at intermission and the gal next to my handsome bestie slept through the first act, then proclaimed incredulously that she couldn't believe there was an hour left!  And the guy sitting next to me had trouble keeping his hands to himself...

 

The Mound Builders isn't revived very often, so I hope this production can work the kinks out and show what a fine play this is.  It's just been extended, so everyone should try to pick up a ticket and check it out.  I may try to see it again myself...