and Rose Hemingway as Hazel. Standing: Sarah Manton as Joan, Jonathan Fielding as Alan and Amanda Quaid as Kay. Photo by Jim Cox.
By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — “There’s a great devil in the universe and we call it Time.”
It was a very different world in 1919. The war had ended and surviving soldiers were coming home. Things finally seemed to be looking up. Back then, a single woman’s primary objective was finding a good husband. Dressing to allure and keeping him wanting more were the skills she cultivated. “Marrying up” was the social equivalent of a big promotion. Where’s a good shadchan when you need one? This is the romantic world of J.B. Priestly’s Time and the Conways playing at the Old Globe through May 4th, 2014.
It’s a birthday party at the Conways, one of the “better” upper-middle class families. The young ladies are playing dress-up with some cast-offs and false moustaches to entertain their guests with some improvised skits. It’s all quite silly, but after four years of war, they need it.
The daughters are as different as sisters can be. Kay is intent on becoming the next Jane Austen. Hazel is more of a vamp. Her dress and demeanor give her just enough of a “bad girl” edge to be enticing, but not enough to give her a “reputation”. Madge, as a dedicated socialist, is the least interested in dressing up and more intent on pontificating. The baby, Carol, is still just a girl, not ready for the world of men. But she’s learning.
Hazel is being hotly pursued by a certain Mr. Beevers. He’s a northern Englander of working class stock and frankly, kind of creepy. Not the husband material Hazel’s looking for. She tries to put him off, but he’s not one to give up the chase.
Then there are the brothers: Robin is tall, handsome and confident, convinced of his future as a millionaire. Alan stammers and seems destined to live out his days as a government clerk. Both fancy Joan, a giddy little blond, but does the better man win?
Sarah Manton was very funny as Joan with her giddy, red-faced giggle. Lee Aaron Rosen cuts a swaggering figure as Robin. He seems self-assured, but –as King Solomon said- “pride goeth before a fall.”
Jonathan Fielding was very genuine as Alan. Quiet and unassuming, a real mensh, he’s the sort of chap everyone likes. Women just don’t like him “that way”.
As the lights slowly fade, the set drifts upstage and a new one drifts in. It’s the same room in 1937. The furniture looks old and neglected. The walls are transparent with its former glory visible, but out of reach. Hats off to designer Neil Patel for painting a poignant picture, poetic in its simplicity.
They are eighteen years older and their lives have not turned out as they had hoped. The estate is in the red and the only one who can pull it out won’t. Old wounds are salted and feelings have hardened with age. They refer to that fateful night back in 1919 on which their lives turned. But we don’t know the whole story, yet….
1919 returns and we learn the rest of the story.
At first, the acting seemed very artificial. Then I realized it was supposed to be. The wide-eyed youthful world of dressing up and fetching husbands is one of artifice. Whereas the world of middle-age, missed opportunities and grim prospects is only too real.
There were standout performances from Kim Martin-Cotten as the over-the-top grande dame, Mrs. Conway. Her lack of a filter made for some very comically awkward moments. Another favorite was Amanda Quaid whose Kay was consistently genuine and in the moment.
Is time a thief or a journey? Do we choose our destinies or are we chosen? Are past and present as intertwined as Einstein believed? These are the heady questions raised in Time and the Conways playing at the Old Globe through May 4th, 2014.
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Eric George Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com … San Diego Jewish World seeks sponsorships to be placed, as this notice is, just below articles that appear on our site. To inquire, call editor Donald H. Harrison at (619) 265-0808 or contact him via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com