Theater Review—

Good Work On Stage Nearly Eclipses Nigro’s Worrisome Context

By Julie Stern

RIDGEFIELD — This review is a bit difficult to write, because I am not sure what to say about Ridgefield Theater Barn’s current production, Seascape with Sharks and Dancer.

As always, RTB treats its audiences to a production that is honed and polished in every way. Veteran director Sherry Cox has gotten terrific performances from her two actors; and Martin Prew’s beach cottage set, carefully decorated by Andrea Sack and lit by designer Jose Helu, is so real that we’ve all been there.

So I guess my problem is with the play itself.  Billed as a “romantic comedy,” Don Nigro’s  1974 work charts the thorny relationship that develops between Ben, a lonely young librarian trying to complete his first novel, and Tracy, the young woman he rescues from drowning by pulling her out of the ocean in the middle of the night.

The play begins with Tracy (clad in nothing but a strategically placed towel) and Ben engaging in some barbed repartee that brings to mind Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, or maybe Colbert and Gable, but those vehicles followed the rule whereby once they broke through each other’s defenses, true love would reign supreme. Their barbs were merely part of the heroines’ charm.

In this case, convincingly acted by Alisson Wood, Tracy turns out to be one sick cookie… or at least a serious neurotic. Although she claims that she was merely dancing out there in the ocean,  it is pretty clear that Ben interrupted a suicide.

Hostile and insulting, she attacks him verbally and physically, and tells stories that are either hallucinations (she hears chickens everywhere) or outright lies. As Ben, Gabriel Morrow combines wry humor with resilient determination.

Although she is aggressively defensive towards every overture, Ben plies her with patience and kindness, and eventually they wind up in bed together, which they both agree was a good idea. Can she be happy? Comes act two and we realize the answer is No.

That’s what neurosis is all about. It’s three months later, and although they have not only moved in together but Tracy has enrolled at school and is holding down a job as a waitress, the equilibrium is not going to hold. She wants commitment and love, but she can’t trust anyone enough to believe them. Instead, she lashes out, demanding reassurance and rejecting it scornfully.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, Ben’s persistent attempts at reassurance start to resemble Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill. Playwright Nigro, who has enjoyed an extremely prolific career, and is well known and highly regarded in academic circles, has created a frighteningly believable portrait of pathology here.

Tracy is the kind of girl you instinctively want to protect your sons and younger brothers from, because you know it isn’t going to end well. Does this make you want to see a well done play about it? That’s up to you.

(Performances continue at the theater barn, 37 Halpin Lane in Ridgefield, until June 25.

Curtain is Friday and Saturday at 8, Sunday afternoons at 2, and tickets are $24 for adults, $20 students and seniors. Call 203-431-9850 for reservations or additional information.)