’Eleemosynary’: Love is a many splintered thing

Strong acting can’t sustain a murky script in Williamston drama

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Reading the description of Williamston Theatre’s latest production “Eleemoynary” before heading to the theater, you might wonder if the play will leave you bawling over unresolved mommy issues. In retrospect, that would be a far more rewarding outcome than the way “Eleemosynary” does leave you feeling: underwhelmed and unaffected.

Lee Blessing has created some interesting characters in this three-woman show, which relates the story of three generations of Westbrook women. Dorothea (Julia Glander) is the grand matriarch, a feminist who tries to give her daughter and granddaughter all of the support and motivation that she was never given by the men in her family. She was an only child who was ignored by her father. Married off after high school, she was subsequently ignored by her husband.  

Dorothea is highly intelligent and inquisitive, and when she learns from a spiritual guru at a party in the 1940s that “no one holds an eccentric responsible,” she dedicates the rest of her life to eccentricity. She tries to pass on her joie de vivre to her daughter, Artie (Rebecca Covey), with no success.

Here, the script gets a bit murky. Artie is a humorless automaton who resents her mother’s attention.

While Dorothea can be overbearing, it remains unclear why Artie never learned to appreciate her mother’s love. She acts as if she is the product of a psychology experiment whereby she was raised with a wire monkey for a mother. That is to say, it seems that she cannot give or receive love, and no meaningful explanation is provided.

On the other hand, granddaughter Echo (Michelle Meredith) basks in Dorothea’s glow. Artie had abandoned Echo at a young age, so Dorothea raises Echo as her own. They feed well off each other, encouraging one another’s passions.

When Dorothea suffers a stroke, Artie and Echo struggle to define their relationship without her.

The characters are too contrived to make a real connection with the audience. Their eccentricities are formulated for the stage, crafted to heighten moments of humor and dramatic tension. One never forgets that one is watching a play, as opposed to being emotionally connected to the characters and their situation. Still, the performances are touching.

Glander is a hoot as Dorothea. She obviously has fun portraying the free-spirited character, playing her quite naturally.  She makes the easiest connection with the audience, being the most likable character of the three. Who wouldn’t want a Dorothea in his or her life?

Artie is as brittle as her mother is buoyant. Covey plays the character well, projecting her clear discomfort around people, but it is a thankless task. Artie’s attempts to explain the angst behind her behavior do not promote feelings of empathy. Compared to her mother and her daughter, she comes across as a total buzz-kill who barely deserves the love and attention of the other women.

The script does have some powerful moments, such as the reenactment of the tense final moments of Echo’s National Spelling Bee. This is Meredith’s best scene. She becomes a stage mom’s dream — but her mother and grandmother’s nightmare —when she gleefully and openly eviscerates her opponent. It is as shocking and tense a moment as a key scene when Dorothea explains to Artie that having an abortion will make her life better.

“Eleemosynary” may spark a few generational discussions about love, motivation and motherhood.  More likely, though, the play will simply spark reminiscences about the time that Grandma held a séance to thank the Thanksgiving turkey for his sacrifice.


’Eleemosynary’
Williamston Theatre
Through June 12
8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; 3 p.m. Saturday, May 21, June 4 and June 11
$25 Friday and Saturday evenings; $20 matinees; $18 Thursdays; $10 students; $2 off regular price for seniors
www.williamstontheatre.org
(517) 655-7469

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