Theater Review—

Chemistry Among A Trio Gives ‘Tryst’ A Polished Presentation In Hartford

                By Julie Stern

HARTFORD — Maybe it is just the flattering sense of being selected as a confidante, but it is hard to hate a villain who confides so honestly to you about his wickedness, as George Love does to the audience in Karoline Leach’s riveting two-character drama Tryst.

Set in turn of the 20th Century England and currently being offered at TheatreWorks Hartford, the play centers around George, a swindler who makes a practice of marrying lonely women and abandoning them on the second day of the honeymoon (after he has gotten his hands on their little bit of money). Explaining that he stalks women like game, watching for the tell-tale gesture or expression that alerts him to a likely candidate — someone shy, friendless, vulnerable — the handsome rascal describes his technique for separating his potential conquest from the herd, and reeling her in with his charm.

Adelaide Pinchin, a timid woman who works in the back room of a milliner’s store, sewing hats because she is not prepossessing enough to be allowed to wait on customers, seems the perfect quarry. She wears an expensive brooch, which she tells George was willed to her by an elderly aunt who also left her a legacy of 50 pounds…

The human psyche is a complex organism. When George, oozing charm and showering her with blandishments, casually remarks that he was “in the diplomatic service” and “was attached to Kitchener in Cairo,” Adelaide automatically corrects him, pointing out that Kitchener was never in Cairo. He was in Khartoum. And when George muffs a translation of the French inscription on her brooch, the quirky twist at the corners of her mouth suggests that she is no simpleton, and she should be able to see through the fabric of his outrageous lies.

Doesn’t she recognize that there is something inappropriate in this whirlwind courtship by a fellow who cautions her to tell no one of their elopement, and reminds her to bring her bankbook with her when they leave London for a seedy boardinghouse in the seaside resort of Weston Super Mare? Does she want to be fooled?

In one of his asides, George assures us that he is never mean to his victims; he gives them a wedding night of such attentive love that by the next morning they are happy to transfer all their worldly wealth to their new husband’s safekeeping. After that, it is but a simple matter to hop the nearest train and disappear.

But things begin to take an unexpected turn when the apparently submissive Adelaide begins to show a far less pliant side. On their wedding night she keeps him at arm’s distance, indicating she would rather make tea and play cards than succumb to George’s romantic overtures. Eventually they begin to talk.

While Adelaide steadfastly refuses to take off her clothes for him, she reveals instead the secret layers of her soul. Meanwhile George, who probably has never held a serious conversation with a woman in his life, is pulled into something close to an honest dialogue.

The seaside tryst that was meant to be one more in George’s string of “love ‘em and leave ‘em” seductions, turns out to be a far more complicated interchange.

Questions of trust are multifaceted, and the issue of whether we dare to allow our real selves to be seen gives the work depth beyond the usual level of a romantic thriller. It is a dark story, in which we, the audience, participate as well by our willingness to be seduced by the prospect of a happy ending.

Under the direction of Joe Brancato, Mark Shanahan and Andrea Maulella do a wonderful job. Over the past six years, this trio has staged this piece in a variety of venues, including New York’s Irish Repertory Theater and Westport Country Playhouse. The chemistry between them is sure and polished.

So, too, is Michael Schweikardt’s set design, capturing the gloom and detail of the grimy city and the shabby resort. An absorbing and entertaining play in its own right, Tryst is being given a first class production in Hartford.

(Tryst runs through September 9, at TheaterWorks in Hartford, 233 Pearl Street. For ticket information go to theaterworkshartford.org.)