A second review of The Shadow Box

ICCT - What is most interesting about Michael Cristofer's The Shadow Box is that it is actually three short plays in one. Each of the three mini-plays takes place in a California Hospice and track a snapshot in the life of a dying person. The disembodied voice of the Interviewer (Gerry Roe) links the stories together as one by one he asks the patients and family members to discuss their feelings.

The Iowa City Community Theatre's production wonderfully captures each of these stories. First we are introduced to Joe (Rip Russell) and his wife Maggie (Kathy Maxey), who is stuck deeply in denial about Joe's illness. They have a son, Steve (Sam Schlesinger), whom Maggie has kept in the dark about Joe's impending death. Anyone who saw Russell's strong portrayal of Atticus Finch in last season's To Kill a Mockingbird won't recognize him as the scared Joe. He wonderfully disappears into his character, using his wide, fearful eyes to show his wonder and shock that he has found himself in this situation. Maxey is equally good as the wife who won't even walk into Joe's cottage, desperately trying to put off the moment when she has to confront the loss of her husband. The play doesn't give the character of the son much to do, so the director's choice of utilizing Schlesinger's guitar talent was an excellent one. He plays during intermission and a few times offstage during the show, adding emotional resonance to those scenes. The highlight of the play, however, was the emotionally gripping confrontation scene between Joe and Maggie. Because Russell and Maxey had been expertly building in intensity for the entire play, this explosion of emotion was riveting.

The second story revolves around Agnes (Mary Johnson) and her dying mother (Evelyn Stanske). Johnson plays Agnes as a brittle, sweet woman whose anger with her mother boils beneath the surface like a guilty secret. When she realizes her own complicity in her mother's suffering, Johnson's face moves from shock to anger to guilt in the space of five seconds. Stanske is wonderful as the cantankerous mother, moving easily from angry in one scene to heartbreakingly vulnerable in the next. And her hilarious rendition of a bawdy song is not to be missed!

In the final story, Mark (Pat Keyes) is dealing with his lover Brian's (Jeff Emrich) impending death. That is complicated when Brian's ex-wife Beverly (Angela Ayres) arrives. Emrich uses a forced laugh and shy smile wonderfully to show Brian's attempt to stay upbeat despite his impending death. There is a wonderful contrast between the movements and speech of Keyes and Ayres. He has a staccato approach to all of his movements and especially his speech, which shows how completely out of control his character is in dealing with the upcoming death of his lover. In contrast, Ayres flows through the room and her speech slides into the conversation easily. Unfortunately, a climatic slap scene between the two falls a little flat because of the pauses in the action.

I was a little fearful that show would appear dated after 30 years. However, the issues these characters are dealing with are timeless. It's a show that holds up well and ICCT's production is one you should definitely catch.

--Matthew Falduto

Matthew has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa. He has directed, acted in, and produced theater in the Iowa City area for over ten years. He has worked with the Iowa City Community Theatre, City Circle and Dreamwell, of which he is a founder. Two of his plays have been produced in the Iowa City area. In another brief life, he also worked as a technical writer.

(Photo one is Rip Russell, Sam Schlesinger, and Kathy Maxey. Photo two is Mary Johnson and Evelyn Stanske.)