-

B

rian Friel's Molly Sweeney poorly on Broadway in 1995 —
at the Attic Theatre is an following on the great success of
ambitious — and mostly suc- his Dancing at Lughnasa — the
cessful — attempt to merge Attic has given this work sensi-
two forms. The first is the novel, tive treatment. Perhaps this is
in which the character's voice the production it has needed to
speaks directly to the listener, shine.
and the second is the
theatrical, in which
the dramatist makes
events and charac-
ters come alive.
This three-charac-
ter play (based on a
true story) of inter-
locking monologues
is set in and around
contemporary
gal, Ireland. Molly is
in her early 40s,
nearly totally blind
since the age of 10
months. Her new
husband, Frank, de-
scribed by the third
character as possess-
ing "the indiscrimi-
nate enthusiasm of
the self-taught," be-
lieves Molly could be
surgically enabled to
see "normally." That
third character, Mr.
Rice, is a former ge-
nius eye surgeon, Hal Youngblood (Mr. Rice), Susan Arnold (Molly
now a down-at-the- Sweeney) and Gary Andrews (Frank Sweeney) in Molly
heels local doctor, re- Sweeney, through Jan. 5 at the Attic Theatre.
cruited by Frank in
the cause of bringing "gnosis," vi-
As Molly, Susan Arnold makes
sual knowingness, to Molly. Friel stage magic, turning into anoth-
allows the men — Hal Young- er person: It is hard to believe
blood is the physician, Gary An- this is the same actress from
drews is the "ebullient" spouse Twelfth Night or Song of Singa-
—to interact with each other and pore. Where she excels is in vo-
Molly only by reference. None of cal inflections and rhythms of
the characters speaks directly to speech (she sits in the same place
each other, only to the listener, in each act). It is a marvelous,
the audience. We become the con- subtle, memorable performance.
duit, the connection which links
The two men are fine but do
them together. The juice flows not have the same degree of au-
through us and binds the play- ral effectiveness. Youngblood
, wright's intentions.
breaks up his lines at odd points;
What does he intend? To tell Andrews' Irish lilt disappears at
us about worlds we are unaware the end of every sentence, and his
of: how we think we see but for-
forced laughter sounds me-
get to use our senses; that
chanical. However, both
the greatest of our hu-
THEATER
are empathetically con-
man acts can be unin-
nected to their characters
Cf) tentionally cruel; that we
and give solid performances.
use others to satisfy our own
Lucy Meyo's superb lighting
needs. Friel's glue, aside from the design is as apt as Friel's poetry
acuity of perception, is the pow- in highlighting emotion and
- er of poetry. Frank's yearnings meaning. Kenton Coe's music is
are "phantom desires." Rice's for- perfect, and Nicholas Calanni
mer wife had "instinctive beau- has directed with his inner ear
- t y for every occasion." To hear acutely attuned to Friel's nu-
cr how Molly recognizes flowers
ances of character and language.
and then colors — is a testament
This is a fine one for any sea-
c) to the writer's art.
son; it will be remembered.
Friel is a great writer and
though Molly Sweeney fared

•

Michael H. Margolin writes about

the arts.

— Michael H. Margolin

'The Evening Star'

Rated PG-13

W

In his second directorship this Ross is also outstanding, bring-
season (First Wives Club), screen- ing a quiet dignity to the role of
writer Robert Harling (Steel
Rosie, Aurora's housekeep-
Magnolias) makes the
er and best friend.
right move by shining the
The Evening Star is a
MOVIES
spotlight on his star and
boldly sentimental film,
letting her carry the show.
not at all ashamed to wring
Shirley MacLaine rises to the a flood of tears from its audience.
challenge, reprising her Oscar- It's a film about missed opportu-
winning role with vigor, tender- nities and the cruelty of life and
ness and endearing humor. Her loss. But it's also wickedly funny,

ith nary an explosion nor
special effect in sight, The
Evening Star heralds a
welcome return to the un-
derappreciated pleasures of sim-
ple storytelling and engaging
characters.
It's 15 years after the events of
Terms of Endearment, and Au-
rora Greenway's life has
net grown any easier. The
story opens as Aurora is
trying to deal with the
three wayward grand-
children she raised after
her daughter Emma's
death.
Melanie, played by
Juliette Lewis, spends her
days and nights wreaking
havoc with her sleazy
boyfriend (Scott Wolf).
Tommy (George New-
bern) is serving out a
prison term while broth-
er Teddy (Mackenzie
Astin) struggles with the
idea of commitment as he
raises his illegitimate son.
As if that were not
enough, Aurora must bat-
tle Patsy, Emma's best Shirley MacLaine — with Miranda Richardson — reprises her role as Aurora in The Evening
friend, for her grandchil- Star, the long-awaited sequel to Terms of Endearment.
dren's affections and those
of Aurora's therapist Jerry (Bill scenes with Jack Nicholson ring eliciting laughs when they are
Paxton), a man dealing with his emotionally true as their two least expected and most welcome.
own amusing mother fixation. If characters question the results of Like its heroine Aurora Green-
it sounds like a soap opera, that's lives all-too-quickly drawing to a way, The Evening Star keeps you
because it is one, but it's a grand close.
on your toes and makes you
one and it knows how to satisfy.
Miranda Richardson holds her thankful for it later.
own against MacLaine, making
c)Z
■ k.
Liz Lent is an ardent reader,
Patsy a sympathetic yet wonder-
writer and moviegoer.
fully despicable meddler. Marion
— Liz Lent

'Michael'

Rated PG-13

ohn Travolta is perfectly cast
in the new Nora Ephron
comedy Michael. After years
of trying to get past his ear-
ly teen comedy roles, and final-
ly achieving critical and popular
success with Pulp Fiction and
Get Shorty, he's an appropriate
choice for a film about redemp-
tion and second chances. And
while this angel road movie com-
edy isn't quite in the same
league as the two earlier hits,
it's no fall from grace either.
Travolta portrays the title

Stephen Bitsoli is the former
entertainment editor for Detroit
Monthly magazine.

John Travolta is
angelic as Michael.

archangel as poor
white trash with
wings. He smokes
cigarettes, drinks
beer, picks up women
(his body exudes pow-
erful pheromones and
smells of cookies),
picks fights, puts lots
of sugar on his cereal
(even Frosted Flakes)
and loves roadside
attractions ("The
world's largest ball of
twine!" "The world's
largest nonstick fry-
ing pan!").
When Chicago tab-

PHOTO BY RON PHILLIPS

'Molly Sweeney'