Review - Snow Orchid

Last night, a handsome chum and I went to see the revival of Joe Pintauro's 1982 play Snow Orchid.  My handsome chum invited me and I accepted, without knowing a thing about the play.  I've heard of Joe Pintauro, of course, but I hadn't seen any of his work before.  I printed off some reviews, but I didn't read them until after I saw the show.  So I went in pretty blind.

Wow, Snow Orchid is an ugly play, populated with ugly people, saying and doing ugly things.  It was severely depressing and I began to fantasize about the first act ending with a murder/suicide so all these horrible people would be gone and the second act would be the stagehands cleaning up the stage and removing the weird bubble wrap/clear fabric wrapped flats.

BUT.  And this is a huge 'but' because I hated these people, I didn't feel sorry for them, and I wanted them to shut up, BUT I was always engaged and I was never bored.  I wanted to know how everything would turn out (the fact that I didn't like how it turned out was my problem, I guess).  The play had bold, vigorous and passionate dialogue - mostly loathsome dialogue, to be sure, but it was strong and well-written.  So...there's that.

photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

Snow Orchid is about a Brooklyn family in 1964 (wow, what a good year!).  The father is coming home after spending a year in a mental hospital, suffering from (as we discover later) a manic-depressive disorder.  The mother and two sons who were left behind have fashioned a life for themselves without the father, so they deeply resent his return, not only because he's been gone for so long, but because, before he left, he was physically and emotionally abusive to his family.  He returns a changed man (he thinks) who wants to resume his place at the head of his family.

There is a LOT going on in this play, with mental illness - not only the manic depression but also the mother's agoraphobia - abuse, closeted homosexuality, incest and other various ugly things.  I closed my eyes and/or looked away several times to try to not see the terrible ways this family treated each other.  I had understanding, at times, for their pain and suffering - I have mental illness in my family and my grandfather committed suicide after years of undiagnosed manic depression, but I couldn't get past the lack of forgiveness.  Anywhere.  I realize there are crimes that are too big to forgive, but since we only really hear about them, it beame hard to reconcile them.  In my mind, at least.  And I believe I've mentioned before that theatrical bad parents make me really sad.  These are terrifically bad parents.

photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

I didn't think the show was particularly well-staged and I was confused by the set for quite a while.  It took me a long time to figure out the configuration of the house and even after I figured it out, it was still confusing as to when characters were eavesdropping and when they weren't.  I think the Lion Theatre may just have been too small a space for this piece.  I didn't feel claustrophic, just confused.  Having said all that, the show was quite well-acted and since I was so bothered by everyone's behavior, I can assume it was fairly well-written, too.  I wouldn't have believed it so much without some quality in the writing.  I just can't imagine what I'm supposed to gather/learn/understand from this play.  I didn't see any hope or redemption anywhere and I'm not sure I was supposed to, so then...what?!.  Ah well.  I guess I can appreciate the fact that I don't think I know anyone as awful as these people and I hope I never do.