Growing old is not for sissies: That saying and its variants have been around for several generations, so long there’s no good attribution for it. Like many such lines, it’s remained evergreen because it’s pretty much true. And if anyone forgets, there’s Salt, Root, and Roe to remind them.
Upstream Theater brings us the American premiere of this play by Tim Price. It’s a co-production with Stages Repertory Theatre Houston. We’re offered a family living in Pembrokeshire, on the west coast of Wales, as the eldest generation is aging. “Aging in place” is the current description; certainly there are enough home-care options in the British health care system that it’s easier almost anywhere in that country than it is in the U.S. without paying for it oneself.
Twin sisters Iola (Donna Weinsting) and Anest (Sally Edmundson) live together as Iola is slipping into dementia. It’s not just “good days” and “bad days”, just as it happens in real life. Things can shift very quickly. They’re as close as one expects twins to be. Indeed, in the opening scene, they are frolicking in a puddle of green light both holding a rope, and the image of twins in utero with a shared umbilical cord is inescapable. But in their home, Anest’s daughter Menna (Amy Loui) has discovered neither sister is there. She apparently has just arrived, her visit caused by a letter from Iola that has frightened her. She has no idea where they are and is near-hysterical, despite the efforts of the constable Gareth (Eric Dean White), who she’s known for years, to calm her.
It looks as though they’re moving – there are boxes everywhere, and we discover that much of the furniture has been taken away. There’s a vague mention of a facility of some sort, since Iola has refused to allow any of the carers from “the Council”, i.e., people who come in to assist with housekeeping and personal hygiene under the National Health scheme, to visit. Menna wants to return to this place where she grew up and take care of them, and is adamant that they do something rather than doddle along as they have been, especially when she discovers that recently Iola hit Anest with a fireplace poker. That, of course, is a pretty reasonable response to what she’s finding at her mother’s home. Nevertheless, make no mistake: Menna is not in such great shape herself. She’s angry, impulsive, and compulsive, wearing latex gloves, scrubbing floors, and slowly revealing the bones of her marriage.
It turns out that Iola, in her lucid moments, has decided she’s had enough of this and wants to end it all. That’s what was in the letter. Anest understands. Menna doesn’t.
The picture of life with dementia is graphically accurate, and Weinstock is excellent, slipping in and out of rationality. It’s a demanding role and she nails it. As the supportive sister, Edmundson leans more toward Iola than to her daughter Menna, probably not surprising since she’s now Iona’s caregiver, not Menna’s. It’s a performance of restrained emotion except when the sisters are interacting. The sisters often seem to lapse into speaking Welsh, although it’s easy to think perhaps it’s one of the twin languages one hears about. The foreign tongue doesn’t seem to impair our understanding, although for a while, the audience surely wonders.
The Houston side of the production shows itself admirably. The show’s director is Kenn McLaughlin, the artistic director for the Houston group. Sally Edmundson, the actress playing Anest works out of Houston. The impressive sound, including some interesting original music, is from Anthony Barilla, based in Houston. Lighting, too, is from Texas, courtesy of Steve Carmichael, whose work is important to the story. And the set is courtesy of Michael Heil, giving us land and sea in the space of the Kranzberg’s black box. McLaughlin has sewn it all together nicely.
The show runs about 100 minutes without intermission. One wishes more might have been made of the mother-daughter relationship, but all in all it works well and gives a fine showcase for some outstanding talent.
Salt, Root, and Roe
through May 12
Upstream Theater
Kranzberg Arts Center
501 N. Grand
314-669-6382
website
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