Friendship Without Feeling

ONE OF THE nice things about plays that explore old friendships is the certainty that things will turn out well in the end. Though most dramas dealing with real life issues couldn't get away with a script comprised heavily of maudlin reminiscences and bittersweet quarreling, plays like Mame and Same Time, Next Year generally manage to leave their audiences feeling tearful and rejuvenated. Something about the unbreakable bond that links old friends seems to draw a smile from even the crustiest cynic.

To arrive at such an ending successfully, however, the play must develop this friendship from the beginning. Unfortunately, in the Adams House production of Old Acquaintance, a sense of the past is never fully nurtured. In fact, because the performance so sadly lacks energy, it is never developed at all.

Considering the potential promise and relative obscurity of the play, this is a shame. Though it enjoyed a successful Broadway debut with Bette Davis--and a subsequently not-so-successful film adaptation featuring Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset--both play and playwright are little known among contemporary theatregoers. Yet the crisp dialogue and comic sentimentality of the script make for what could be an entertaining evening of theatre.

Director Michael Wieshan must be credit with at least recognizing this possibility. From the stylized program and elegant costumes to the old-time music and quaint Lower Common Room set, the play has all the outer makings of a memorable production. Yet these external touches are not enough to evoke the sense of nostalgia and camaraderie so vital to the show's thematic and character development. Instead, what we get is a series of seemingly endless scenes between half-developed characters who appear uncomfortable on stage and uncertain of just who it is they're supposed to be portraying.

The drama revolves around the relationship between Kit (Rebecca Howe) and Milly (Elsie Marks), two school cronies who rival each other inspite of their longstanding friendship. Kit, sophisticated and cosmopolitan, writes quality books that don't sell. Milly, banal and spitefully petty, writes trashy romances that make the bestseller's list. Milly accuses Kit of luring her husband (Jamie Wolf) and daughter Deidre (Nora Jaskowiak) from her; Deidre unwittingly sweeps Kit's boyfriend Rudd (Matthew Haynes) off his feet. None of this, however, is powerful enough to shatter the relationship between the two, which somehow manages to transcend all differences.

Yet the tension that these rivalries create--and the bond that keeps them together--is never developed in the play. When Deidre asks Kit why friendship is so important to her, she answers with seeming disinterest.

The play's limited action poses a comparable problem. Because so little of Old Acquaintance involves actual physical movement, the play depends heavily upon the strength of its dialogue to carry it through. Moreover, since much of the undercurrent of hostility and sarcasm is subtly woven into the script, delivery is often more important than substance.

Unfortunately, the cast fails to capitalize on the script's potential. The acting seems as flat as the champagne bottle Kit uncorks each time she drinks her way through woe. The audience waits for a fizz, but instead all we get is an occasional fizzle.

THE CENTRAL INGREDIENT missing from Old Acquaintance is energy. The characters move with a distinct sense of unease, reciting their lines by rote as if they're reading from the script. From the sense of ennui and uncertainty the actors themselves generate, it is difficult to determine whether they lack adequate preparation or are simply sick of reciting the same old lines. When the characters occasionally do interact with each other, the result seems more like children squabbling over marbles than adults bickering over marriage.

From the opening scene between Kit and Rudd, the play begins its descent downhill. Though Howe makes a noble attempt to enliven the show with frequent gesticulations and facial expressions, she fails to interact with the others on stage. Her performance fluctuates depending upon the scene, unlike her voice which seems locked in an interminable monotone. Haynes encounters similar difficulty. His emotions vary little throughout the performance, and he generates about as much enthusiasm for proposing marriage as he does when discussing the weather.

Jaskowiak and Wolf appear equally uncomfortable on stage. Their rigid and unnatural manner of moving, along with the vapid manner in which they rattle off their lines, makes the audience feel self-conscious. Moreover, the whiny manner in which Jasowiak delivers her lines grates on the audience after five minutes of forced, unvaried delivery. Both performances do little more than delay the two long-awaited intermissions.

Fortunately, as the vituperative and caustic Milly, Elise Marks manages to salvage the show. Partly because of the nature of her role, but more importantly because of the professional sense of control she demonstrates. Marks turns Milly into a bigger-than-life character. Milly doesn't simply gripe, she bitches; she doesn't simply betray, she backstabs. Mark's frequent comical tantrums and pouting fits provide the play with the energy it so desperately needs.

But if Mark's performance stands out as charismatic, it only serves to reinforce how pathetically mundane and melodramatic the rest of the show seems. Kit and Milly's final toast to "old acquaintance" appropriately underscores the painful irony of the entire performance--that the story's central relationship is never truly developed.

Though part of the failure of Old Acquaintance lies with the trappings of a trite plot, the crux of the problem is simply poor acting. While some of the dialogue is admittedly maudlin bordering on corny, there is no excuse for butchering classic lines like. "Every man over 21 is another woman's cast off clothing." Moreover, if Weishan wanted to give the show the least bit of credibility, he might have atleast seen to it that teacups were filled with liquid and pipes with tobacco.

Old Acquaintance tries to evoke a feeling of nostalgia between two longtime friends. Yet because the cast sorely lacks energy and the tension fragmenting relationships is never developed, the spirit of camraderie is never evoked. And unfortunately, not even old time tunes and champagne toasts can compensate for its absence.