THEATER REVIEW: "STILL"

THEATER REVIEW: STILL

Sheen Center For Thought and Culture 

Through March 23

When the play ended, my guest said, "I didn't know my bucket list included watching Melissa Gilbert clumsily play the ukulele and sing Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love.' But apparently it did and now I can cross it off." 

That's the pleasure of live theater. A modest play with modest ambition is enlivened by two pros like Melissa Gilbert (of Little House on the Prairie fame) and Mark Moses (who had roles in not one but two key TV dramas:  Mad Men and Desperate Housewives). And a sweet, unexpected moment–like Gilbert's musical offering late in the show–will make an entire evening worthwhile. 

[MELISSA GILBERT and MARK MOSES. Photo by Jeremy Daniel]

In this romantic two-hander by Lia Romeo, old friends (and old flames) named Helen and Mark meet at a hotel bar to catch up. The conversation follows the usual pattern: they catch up on careers and family and health. They laud each other's work; hers as a successful author and his lucrative job as an attorney. They flirt, both openly and indirectly. They reveal thoughts and feelings about their relationship long ago and why it ended. They're both single now. Hmmm. 

He kisses her. She kisses him. They tumble upstairs to his hotel room. They have enjoyable sex. And then they discuss politics. Oops.  I thought the play came more alive when the left/right divide reared its head. But then, I like a good argument so your mileage may vary. 

This isn't a charming Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn sort of argument, a la Adam's Rib. It's more fundamental. Can you have a satisfying relationship with someone who doesn't share your core values? Should you even try? I say no.  But they're not as sure as I am and the play is open to at least the possibility of this night being the beginning, rather than a sad end. 

But the essential weakness of Still is that their political debate is too familiar. What you remember is the scene early on when they try to one-up each other with signs of aging. "I have hair on my shoulders," says Mark. "I have three fake teeth," says Helen. "I have arthritis in my knees," he counters. "I'm missing the nail on my right big toe." "I have a spare tire." "I have kidney stones." 

Naturally, they're soon making out. And a physical bit of business when they head to his hotel room also endears. The set revolves from the hotel bar to the bedroom while Gilbert and Moses are making out and then quickly disrobing. But not that quickly. The set is revolving, for one thing and people in their 60s (just barely, Melissa, I know!) don't do acrobatics. They're both a little deliberate when undressing and laying their clothes down, just as older people do. You don't want to fall, after all.

That modest cautiousness may just be a practical choice. But it says more about where these two characters are at this stage of life than any dialogue. Gilbert and Moses create some much-needed chemistry and believability that these two people maybe were and are and just might be right for each other. (Or left!) And then she plays the ukulele and sings and you forget everything else in the world and decide he'd be a fool not to switch political allegiances just to have a chance. 

[MARK MOSES and MELISSA GILBERT in STILL. photo by Maria Baranova]

Their earlier scene of "anything you can do, I can do better" is echoed at the end. Mark wonders if they might at least have dinner the next time he's near her town. Traffic? Parking? A decent restaurant? Every obstacle she suggests, he counters with a solution. Or at least the possibility of a solution. Maybe they can overcome their political divide? Maybe it doesn't matter that much? Still....