Christopher and Deirdre and Marilu and Spike

Mr. Rip and I didn't initially think we were interested in seeing Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike the show that was playing at the Bucks County Playhouse while we were in New Hope, PA this past weekend.  We really loved the show when we saw it at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh but that was within the past year.

Then we heard Christopher Durang was appearing in the show and we were intrigued to see the playwright perform in his own work.  Therefore it was bit ironic that he turned out to be the weakest player on stage, primarily because he struggled to remember his lines, including a climactic and pivotal monologue that absolutely screams for an effortless delivery. In fairness, his stammering line delivery actually worked for the character, except during the monologue.

We tried to rationalize. He is not really an actor, we told ourselves, but actually he has acted before.  Rumor has it that he wrote the role with himself in mind. It was an awfully long monologue, but Durang wrote the thing. These were his own words he was having such trouble remembering.  Ironic, don't you think?

Just to add to the irony, one of Durang’s co-stars was Marilu Henner (of Taxi fame) one of only twelve people documented with HSAM (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory) which means she can remember absolutely everything that ever happens to her in her life.  Which is puzzling as she clearly forgets to eat, as the first thing you notice when she walks on stage is that she is impossibly thin.  Mr. Rip and I just wanted to give her a sandwich.  She was especially fine in the role of Masha, the movie star sibling who returns home to visit her less flashy siblings.  You can bet she remembered her lines, and I am guessing she knew Durang’s lines as well.

I do have to take a moment here to give a shout out to Deirdre Madigan, who was absolute perfection in the role of Sonia.  I don’t know that she delivered every line as written, but I know I believed every line she spoke.   

I could not be happier that we decided to see this production.  We got to see the playwright in his own work in a theater in the town where the story is set. It was an especially enjoyable evening at the theater, and I would highly recommend this play to anyone. 

Best of all, perhaps, is the fact that this production was rife with incidents of actual irony so that I can continue my life’s work to educate the world on this topic (and to undo the damage Alanis Morissette has wreaked upon us).