Thoughts on Mr. Wolf (in Cleveland) and other various vacation notes

I was home last week for a little celebrating - my nephew turned sixteen (YIKES) and my parents always get a little cake for me, too.  It was a nice week, pretty relaxing, though busy.  It seemed like every day had something that needed to get done, even though I was most looking forward to couch-surfing.  I spent some nice time with my nephew, got to play with the new baby of the family and bonded with my mom.  I wasn't so fond of the snow, though.  When I packed, the weather channel said the weather would be reasonably warm.  When I got home, not so much.  A suitcase full of inappropriate clothes was what I ended up with.  In many of my photos, I'm wearing the same one turtleneck sweater I packed - thank heavens I thought ahead at least that much.  I'll put some random photos from my week below the post...

I was originally planning on going to a friend's production at a local community theater, but when I saw an announcement on Facebook that Rajiv Joseph's new play, Mr. Wolf, would be playing at the Cleveland Play House, I immediately begged my sister to take me. Although I have a driver's license and know how to drive, no one seems to want to lend me their car (hmmmmm), so I'm always at the mercy of other drivers.  Thankfully, my sister had a night free for us to head up to Cleveland, which is about an hour away from my parents' house.  She invited her new husband to tag along, so we first went to dinner, then on to enjoy the show.

As you may remember, I am a big fan of Rajiv Joseph's work.  His Guards at the Taj, reviewed HERE, was maybe my favorite theater experience of last year.  In that review, should you check it out, I also include links to more of Rajiv's work, including his Pulitzer- finalist play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.  I guess I'm predisposed to enjoy his work - no one writes like he does and I always appreciate his scope and ambition.  He's always striving for something and I can appreciate that.  He generally likes to play with time and space and language, with helpings of faith and friendship.  Big ideas.  These are all topics I love to watch being explored and I was happy to explore them again while watching Mr. Wolf.  As I talk about the play, I guess there will be spoilers, of a sort.  You have been warned.

As the play begins, we see a young girl drawing on a chalkboard, putting together what looks like series of atoms. She seems serious and contemplative and totally focused on her thoughts.  In walks an older gentleman, carrying some shopping bags.  He sits down and the young girl begins to ruminate on infinity and the universe, all while walking around and around on an oval hooked rug in the middle of the floor.  It seems to be a conversation they've had before, yet it also seems new and fresh.  Though the time seems to be in the present, the language is a bit heightened, and maybe a bit stilted, as ideas are pouring forth.  You can feel a certain unease in the room, even though the man and girl seem comfortable with each other.

photo credit: Roger Mastroianni

Gradually, we begin to understand that something absolutely momentous is approaching - the older man, Mr. Wolf, is trying to prepare the girl for her leaving.  He talks about the "world" coming for her, and the girl, Theresa, resists.  She says she wants to stay, that this is her home.  But Mr. Wolf understands that she has to go and he makes the scary pronouncement that he is going to kill himself because he doesn't want to be taken alive. He asks Theresa for her permission to kill himself, because he wants her to know and understand what he's doing.  She resists, but finally gives it, and prepares to leave.  This first scene is odd, and maybe a bit surreal, as the set floats out of sight and all we see are stars and the night sky.

The second scene takes place in a time a bit before the first scene - it's between two grieving single parents, both of whom are looking for their abducted children.  They're in a room where perhaps a gathering of other parents like them has just left.  The man, Michael, refuses to give in to despair and maintains a proactive methodology of trying to find his daughter. He's prickly and blunt, with a determination that seems to border on a mania.  The woman, Julie, is trying to find something to hang onto.  She's softer, gentler, yet filled with anguish.  There is a tentative reaching out between the two and I began to wonder where we were going.

photo credit: Roger Mastroianni

Gradually, we discover that Theresa is Michael's daughter, who has finally been found after twelve years.  Mr. Wolf abducted her when she was three, and Michael has been searching, futilely, ever since.  His ex-wife, Theresa's mother, gave Theresa up for dead, divorced Michael and left the country, though she did offer a one million dollar reward to anyone who could provide information about Theresa's whereabouts.  Once Theresa is found, her mother, Hana, comes back.  We first meet her in a scene with Julie, who is now Michael's wife.  Their house is spare, out of fashion, with the only real decorations being photographs of their lost children.  So now the stage is set for four lost souls, trying to find a connection to each other and to the world.

photo credit: Roger Mastroianni

Mr. Wolf had decided to find a child who was pure, who would be a prophet, who could figure out the mysteries of the universe and thereby become closer to God.  As we struggle to understand the motivations of this seemingly normal man, who is obviously NOT normal, we're constantly torn apart, much like the characters are.  We learn more and more about Mr. Wolf and the life Theresa led with him and we're filled with more and more sadness and fear that she may never be the same again.  As Theresa struggles to deal with the life she now must live, she keeps meeting adult authority figures who she thinks is Mr. Wolf (all played by the same actor).  She is using her ideas of infinity to explain everything that she doesn't understand.  She is always asking questions and keeping her family off-kilter as they try to connect with her.  The play fairly throbs with ideas and pain and loss and forgiveness. And ambiguity.  Even at the end, we're not really sure what's going to happen, though a faint thread of redemption and hope seems to be taking shape as the play closes.

The physical production was fantastic - the theater seems like a small space, but it was used beautifully to find all the expansiveness in the story.  The lighting and the music helped to create so many moods and layers of moods.  The direction was smooth and clear and the acting was spectacular.  All of the actors found so much humanity in their characters, and all of their choices were completely understandable, even when reprehensible.  Well, all of Mr. Wolf's choices were not completely understandable, evil can't be understood, really.  But John de Lancie found a way in to make Mr. Wolf at least human and a tad sympathetic, even while you learned more and more about what he'd done over the years.

I was incredibly moved by Mr. Wolf; the characters wants and needs were so recognizable to me, even though I have never and will never experience tragedy in that same way.  But I could relate to huge loss.  I could relate to wanting something so much, it becomes impossible to express it.  Or enjoy it, if it actually comes to pass.  I could relate to wanting a connection.  I was audibly sobbing by the end, so much so that I had to cover my mouth and wait a few minutes before leaving my seat.  I was happy to see Rajiv after the show so I could tell him how much I enjoyed the play, though I was sobbing through talking with him, too.

Full disclosure: the two gents behind me talked through most of the evening.  There were coughing fits during the quieter moments.  My sister and her husband also did not enjoy the play.  Apparently, this was the first play he had ever seen, so maybe Mr. Wolf was a little ambitious for a first play.  But that's ok.  He was a good sport about it.  And I acknowledge that every play doesn't hit everyone.  But, boy, did it hit me.  Hard.  Like most of Rajiv's work, it just built and built into something so moving and profound, I was suddenly hit with waves of emotion that I couldn't control.  And you can't teach that.  I admire Rajiv and his writing so much - I can't wait to see, and experience, what comes next.  I hope Mr. Wolf finds its way to New York so I can see it again!  If you're in Cleveland, you should get to the Cleveland Play House to experience Mr. Wolf.  I doubt you'll soon forget it.