For many, the holidays are synonymous with family. Holiday stories that have risen to popularity over the years in every different format are awash in as many different conceptions of family as the mind can safely conceive. This holiday season, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presents two different holiday stories which present refreshingly non-traditional conceptions of family: James M. Barrie's "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals," and Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory."
In the first story in the production, James M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, weaves a tale of two people drawn together as family during the dark days of the first world war. It isn't exactly a holiday tale in the strictest sense of the word, but when a soldier in England's prestigious Black March brigade returns to British Isles on leave, he gets a bit more than he might've expected from an old woman he comes to accept as his mother. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre co-founder Ruth Schudson plays the old woman struggling for acceptance in a world that can not appreciate her. Marcus Truschinski plays the young, restless Scottish soldier fighting for a nation that hardly knows him.
Complex emotion sparkles through Schudson in her performance as old Mrs. Dowey who desperately wants to be close to those in her country who have gone off to the war. Marcus Truschinski is dynamic and nuanced. He's a rather complicated character and Truschinski brings out all the details fairly well. Tension sets-in the moment he walks in and starts speaking. To his credit, much of the tension is from his portrayal of the role and the way Schudson is reacting to his presence. Some of the tension, however, comes from Truschinski's accent. From the moment he hits the stage, its apparent that he's using a remarkably authentic accent. To the ears of a lot of people in this part of the country, an authentic Scottish accent is extremely difficult to understand. Thankfully, Truschinski's Scottish accent is precisely authentic enough to be intelligible.
That being said, James Barrie's script is speckled with World War One-Era British terms. It pays to read over the "wee glossary," sheet in the program book before the show if you're not familiar with the play. There are a few key moments delivered through dialogue that hinge quite heavily on words that are unique to the setting. Barrie's pairing of the two central characters is intricately played. The pair balance out different ends of such universal concepts as age, gender and national identity. In the briefest span of time, Barrie outlines an entire face to face relationship with remarkably concise precision. Such an exquisitely written piece is a bittersweet reminder that Barrie wrote so precious little in his life.
After a brief intermission, the production resumes its performance with Capote's, "A Christmas Memory." It's a well-loved tale of a young boy and his elderly cousin, an eccentric old woman who makes cakes for Christmas presents every year. Ryan Winkles charmingly plays Buddy, a young man remembering his childhood with his old Friend who was so fun to be around. Flora Coker's performance as Buddy's older cousin is quite accomplished. Coker briefly shows-up briefly in a small role in the opening feature, but in the second half she sparkles with a youthful enthusiasm that really supports the role.
It's a good thing that the performances were remarkable, because they were the center of the second half of the production. There was very little else on the stage, which is really as it should be for a story as character-driven as this. The holiday scent of evergreens can be smelled throughout the production as several rather authentic-looking trees form part of the minimal scenery. As spare as the set is, even the smallest details are pretty clever. The kite scene near the end of the story is conveyed entirely with two actors and two pieces of string taped to a wall. It IS a bit disappointing not to see some visual element towards the end to punctuate the performances. The slim visual aspect of the production is probably best, as Capote's story is known to so many people that any attempt to bring visual reality to the setting in a small studio theatre simply wouldn't live up to the imagination.
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's Christmas Double Bill plays now through December 18th at the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (414) 291-7800.
