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Press Release : Article : Denver Colorado
The Magazine
“Third”
A Review by Beverly A. Saidel
If you are a Republican, “Third” may not appeal to you… unless you are the parent of a child, the child of an elderly parent or a person who enjoys intelligence and wit, clever language and a chance to laugh and cry.
“Third” was the brainchild of Wendy Wasserstein. It is her final play and was crafted to perfection prior to her death from cancer in 2006. The play centers around Laurie Jameson, a 50-something professor at a liberal college in New England who finds herself in the midst of dealing with two daughters, a husband who the audience never sees and an aging father who is on the precipice of losing his mind, while her friend and colleague, Professor Nancy Gordon faces her own health issues – breast cancer.
On the face of it, this play sounds like quite a downer. As a liberal college professor, Laurie struggles with the issues related to the War in Iraq, yelling at the television as she watches hours and hours of “Headline News” while ignoring her unseen husband and passing judgment on a white male student, Woodson Bull III, who is attending her liberal arts college on a wrestling scholarship and therefore cannot possible be intelligent enough to produce a scholarly paper on Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” But to her credit, Ms. Wasserstein laces this story with humor and pathos.
As the play begins, the audience is welcomed into a “hegemonic free zone” which does make one wish that they had a dictionary handy or were sitting next to a college professor. But the language and the acting make you quickly forget the race to the dictionary, as each scene unfolds, embracing the audience with the opportunity to explore the characters that come before you on the stage.
There are many precious moments. One of the standouts comes near the end of the play when Laurie finally discovers her father, who has run away from his nursing home. In rare moments of lucidity and loss, Jack Jameson – handily portrayed by Philip Pleasants, speaks of his children and his daughter Laurie, who stands before him, yet he knows her not. Clutching his clothes and moving from desperation to anger and then joy, in a manner all too familiar to those of us who have watched our parents suffer from Dementia and Alzheimers, Mr. Pleasants evokes the fear we all face of watching our parents grow old.
Another pivotal moment is when Laurie’s youngest daughter Emily, beautifully played by Denver Center Stage newcomer Mattie Hawkinson, confronts her mother after meeting Woodson, and reminds her that the job of a teacher is not to ruin her student’s life, but to nurture them and help them grow. It is this conversation that becomes a catalyst for Laurie. As Professor Nancy Gordon so aptly states, “Personally it was becoming too much work – hating everything.” As the play moves towards its ending, Laurie awakens to finally realize, “Your protection can become your own confinement.”
This play is about renewal and inspiration which according to Ms. Wasserstein, “has its own timeline.” And so it does, as does this fine play running through October 20th, 2007 at the Space Theater at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Beverly A. Saidel is an author, photographer and the owner of Cheap Shots Photography in Denver, Co. (303-331-9932)