Keep Calm and Carry On
Whenever Brenda Blethyn isnt on stage, Edna OBriens Haunted, part of the Brits Off Broadway Fest at 59E59 Theaters, is a wispy, hallucinatory bore, with distracting projections that quickly go from decorative to bizarre. But every time Blethyn marches into Simon Higletts genteelly shabby living room set as the indomitable Mrs. Berry, all brash and brass, things take a comfortingly corporeal turn.
One performance, however, does not transform a three-character, two-act play into top-tier entertainment, even when that performance is as funny and wrenching as Blethyns. A stale story about a middle-aged couple staring old age and their faltering marriage in the face, Haunted, alas, does not focus on Blethyns cozy wife. Instead, were forced to suffer through her husbands increasingly desperate lecherousness, which quickly reveals itself to be OBriens primary focus.
Under the direction of Braham Murray, Niall Buggy portrays Mr. Berry with the single-minded focus of a serial killer. Entranced by the young Hazel, who mistakenly stops by his apartment to purchase a coatee, a sort of short coat, Mr. Berry goes to increasingly intricate steps to continue her visits and keep them a secret from his wife. In addition to giving her Mrs. Berrys clothes (he claims his wife is dead), Mr. Berry also elicits elocution lessons from her. This eventually poses a problem, since Beth Cooke, as Hazel, doesnt possess the requisite crystalline diction that would sell her performance.
The aging roué can still be a source of both comedy and pathos, as Peter OToole showed in his Oscar-nominated performance in the 2006 Venus. But Buggy doesnt even come close to approximating the waggishness of OToole, leaving us with a character who comes across as much colder and crueler than necessary. He flies off into flights of Shakespeare, showering Hazel with compliments and lies. But the greatest error in the production is allowing Mr. Berry to seem sadistic, as he does when his lies begin to unravel and Mrs. Berrys carefully coiffed exterior begins to crumble. Still obsessed with the quiescent and lovely Hazel, Mr. Berry ignores his wifes heartbroken entreaties and retreats into mourning the young woman hell never again see.
The play could easily become a stiff-upper lipped version of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? without Blethyns remarkable performance. Funny and frumpy, shes a powerhouse performer who crafts something real and desperate out of Mrs. Berrys anguish. Blethyn transforms a second-act confrontation into a tour de force, keeping audiences chuckling even as their pulses pound at what she might be capable of. The fragile Hazeland Cookedoesnt stand a chance, either against Mrs. Berry or Blethyn. As we watch this lovable woman, who likes to drink Madeira after shes kicked her shoes off, turn into a lioness defending her home, the thought that any man could prefer a silly little thing like Hazel, no matter how young, is as ridiculous as the idea that any semi-intelligent woman would find Buggys frantic flirting endearing. Blethyns performance is like a hot cup of tea on a cold day: bracing, comforting and, above all else, enjoyable.
Haunted
Through Jan. 2, 2011, 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St. (betw. Park & Madison Aves.), 212-279-4200; $45.