Theater Reviews—

‘K2’ Doesn’t Quite Make It To The Top

By June S. April

STAMFORD — No matter what one’s response is to K2, the set of the play is unequivocally outstanding, both in form and concept.

A mountain climber himself, Patrick McCluskey, Stamford TheatreWorks’ set designer, brings both inventive creativity and brilliant ingenuity to the credible-conceptual set design. Mr McCluskey reportedly took on the challenge of creating an icy/snow covered mountain eagerly. Adding to the necessity of fitting it into a limited stage space and making it safe for the actors to move on it brought all his talents and imagination into use.

Mr McCluskey admirably succeeded with transforming steel and Plexiglas into a most memorable “mountain.” The play takes place on a ledge that is protruding from a 600-foot wall of ice, at 27,000 feet, on the second highest mountain in the world, known as K2. Between the audio genius of sound designer Christopher Granger and the lighting effects of Aaron Meadow, audiences sitting close to the stage kept their jackets on during this play.

What succeeds is not so much the play itself, which is too long and at times, redundant, but the sheer energy of the actors, especially Michael Reilly as Taylor. Having no intermission can keep an audience chair-bound. Staying to hear the several very meaningful messages that this play has is worth squirming through its tedious segments.

One significant point is to not wait until it’s too late to tell people how much they mean to you. Another point is to appreciate the positive aspects of what we have and a third lesson is to value life’s journey.

These are not new messages. Remember Dorothy’s words in The Wizard of Oz? Those realizations seem to still bear repeating because one too often hears people saying “I wish I had...”

Some interesting information borrowed from best-selling author Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is included in K2’s program notes. They help the audience to appreciate something more of the nature of mountain climbers and climbing. On many levels it’s about balance.

“In order to succeed, you must be exceedingly driven, but if you’re too driven you’re likely to die,” wrote Mr Krakauer. “Above 26,000 feet ... the line between appropriate zeal and reckless summit fever becomes grievously thin.”

Mr Krakauer’s point is that reaching the zenith of the mountain is just the halfway point, because the descent can be equally dangerous. It’s really about choosing to face one’s mortality.

Two close friends have fallen onto a ledge while descending K2. Their personalities are very different. Harold is a physicist and intellectual who is married and has a son. Taylor is a very emotional, quick-tempered man, unmarried, who views life cynically and regards women and sex in rather brutish terms.

 Harold has been injured and must rely on his friend to take him down. Multiple problems make that nearly (but not totally) impossible. How they resolve the descent and their personal issues is what this play is about, on one level.

A.J. Handegard, as Harold, is lying or sitting during the drama, whereas Taylor, played by Michael J. Reilly moves with great agility around the mountain several times during the play. Perfectly suited to the role, Mr Reilly has clambered up and down high peaks in the Adirondacks and the formidable Mt. Everest. Though the audience may have felt chilled if they were relating to the play, both actors had ice packs under their layers of clothing so they would not pass out from the heat of the lights and (for Mr Reilly), the exertion demanded by his role.

Directed by STW Artistic Director Steve Karp, K2 is not one of STW’s best productions, but it is certainly interesting and relevant. And that set is worth seeing. It is most fitting that the sponsor is Eastern Mountain Sports.

(Performances continue until November 23, Tuesday through Saturday at 8 pm. Matinees are on Saturday at 4 and Sunday at 2.  Tickets range from $16 to $29 and free parking is adjacent to the theatre, which is on the corner of Strawberry Hill and Fifth in Stamford, on the campus of Sacred Heart Academy. For additional information call 203-359-4414 or visit www.StamfordTheatreWorks.org.)