By Carol Davis
SAN DIEGO — The first things noticeable when entering the White Theatre at The Old Globe are the nautical accoutrements (Wilson Chin) of heavy ropes defining sections of Johnny-Priest’s Saloon, wooden planks of floor, heavy beams both stumped and tall, lots of coiled ropes, dim yellow lighting (Austin R. Smith), fog and a worn out and tattered sail (looks like torn plastic) covering the saloon and later the barge. The small bar has barrels of beer that is hand ladled out to the customers. In the backroom chairs and the doorway lead to a back entrance to the saloon.
Barge Captain Chris (Bill Buell) Christopherson’s famous line in Anna Christie ‘dat ole davil sea’ is just that. When asked by a colleague at the opening night performance of Eugene O’Neill’s 1911 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Anna Christie, if I was seasick yet, I responded that I never met a boat, pleasure or touring, that I was on that I didn’t find myself hanging over the sides and wishing that I could be safely on terra firma.
But for the Swedish Captain the sea was in his blood and rather than give it up to care for his daughter after his wife died, he pawned his five-year-old Anna off on his Minnesota relatives where farming was as far away from the sea as one could get.
Anna Christie made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921 after several versions and revisions. This last revision helped make a name for O’Neill as one of the finest American dramatists. Greta Garbo (in her first talking film) starred in the 1930 film version and was nominated by the Academy for Best Actress. As part of its “Classics Up Close” series the Old Globe, under the direction of Daniel Goldstein, is presenting this classic that is one of the lesser produced, but still has sea legs.
O’Neill places his characters fifteen years and a lifetime later, at a meeting at Johnny-The Priest’s Saloon on the New York waterfront. It’s a popular hangout for the weary sailors with no place else to hang their hats. Long absent father Chris, who also makes Johnny-The Priest’s Saloon his home base when docked in New York just happens to drop in with his long time companion Marthy (Kristine Neilson adds just the right touches of humor and tenderness to the otherwise rough and tumble world of maritime hardships). He arrives feeling no pain and in time to read the letter from Anna (Jessica Love) saying that she would like to meet up with him. Things are a flurry and Chris goes off to grab some food to work off his drunk.
Anna shows up worn out and sickly but manages to down two full shots of whisky (Ginger Ale on the side) each in one gulp. It seems the farm girl turned prostitute (a secret she confesses to Marthy) is pretty much running on empty and that the turmoil and guilt going on inside this young woman is much like the turmoil of the sea and the guilt of her father for making the sea his mistress. Anna is now about to enter a world she may or may not be up to especially when she meets shipwrecked Mat Burke (Austin Durant) who later becomes a stoker on her father’s barge.
The play ambles along with daughter and father getting to know each other and finally forgiving each other enough to agree that Anna will live on the barge with Chris. The problems come to the fore when Mat falls madly in live with Anna and wants to marry her. Chris objects because both will be out to sea most of the time and Anna will be alone.
Ignoring all protestations, Mat proposes marriage anyway. However, convincing Anna that she should marry him is as difficult for Mat as it is for Anna to tell Mat and her father how she lived and made a living after she left the farm. All hell breaks loose when she does. For a while it looks as if someone is going to be dead when all was said and done.
Death might have been easier than all the insults and physical abuse hurled at Anna. Thoughts of how we are treating women today came to mind and, frankly, neither Chris nor Mat could be recommended as Man or Father Of The Year as will be the case when we look back in history at some of the misogyny seen and practiced by today’s male politicians. (Men give you a kick when you’re down) Luckily for both men, Anna was expecting it and it was hers with which to be reckoned.
Director Goldstein’s production is not without problems, though. The play itself is problematical. It’s tough to stage and in the round; sight lines are obscured depending on where one is sitting. Every character speaks in different tongues and figuring the accents out and understanding the words is challenging. Buell’s Chris is still yumpi’n py jiminy, and Burk’s Mat has a strong Irish brogue while Love’s Anna has an indistinguishable accent that doesn’t exactly match her upbringing and background. Added to that, her all-too-modern attitudes are at odds with the rest of the characters.
But it’s not the accent or lack thereof that Love has a problem with. It’s the credibility factor, and that is sorely missing especially when all this fuss is about her, how she responds to the men in her life and how and what they think of her. While the other characters are locked in the 1920’s she is living outside their zone for one thing and for a woman beaten down by circumstances, she just doesn’t have that feel. She is described in O’Neill’s notes as being tall, blond; her fully developed youthful face is hard beneath layers of makeup, etc. Somehow that’s not our Anna. The Anna we see is more independent and strong willed willing to go it alone again if need be.
On the plus side both Buell and Burke are excellent. Both bring the rough, realistic and sometimes-tender sides of men living at sea where only the push and pull of the tides dictates whether they live or die. Buell is still the father who loves his daughter and as misdirected as he may be, he wants what he thinks is best for her. Burke is a handsome bloke too smitten to think clearly. Both argue and fight for the woman they love and want to protect yet both have a different idea how that should be done. Anna, who is the heart of this play, is the only one who will decide and that decision ia left open for discussion at play’s end. And if we are looking for ‘happily ever after’, O’Neill doesn’t say.
Other characters with smaller roles that add some needed color include Johnny-The Priest and Larry (John Garcia and Brent Langdon) who share bartending duties and know all about every ‘patron’ who enters the saloon. They set the tone early on since they were the first to learn about Anna’s letter brought to them by Postman (Jason Maddy). Denitsa Bliznakova’s seaworthy costume designs fit the times and Paul Peterson’s sound design of the sea and all that surrounds it makes this a seagoing voyage worth seeing.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: through April 15th
Organization: The Old Globe
Phone: 619-234-5623
Production Type: Drama
Where: 1393 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
Ticket Prices: starting at $29.00
Web: theoldglobe.org
Venue: Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre
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Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com