Don't waver: New Ground show is must-see theatre
By Sean Leary, Entertainment Editor, ARGUS/DISPATCH -- February 20, 2002

``The Waverly Gallery'' is one of the best and most striking productions I've seen in the Quad-Cities in quite some time. It's a terrifically acted, brilliantly written, stirring look at how a family deals with its matriarch's descent into the hell of Alzheimer's disease. It hits hard and pulls few punches, leaving you feeling more than a bit shaken at its finale.

And despite the fact that, admittedly, that intensity may act as a turnoff to many people used to seeing lighter fare on local stages, I can't help but heartily recommend it as must-see theater to all but children whose ages are still in single digits. (Some of the subject matter could be disturbing and over their heads, and there's some raw language sprinkled throughout -- not gratuitously, but probably too much for really young kids.)

The accomplishment of ``Waverly'' is all the more impressive when you consider it's the debut show of New Ground Theatre, a group founded by local director/playwright/producer Chris Jansen to give more dramatic works a chance to be served to the Q-C. If it's indicative of what's to come, New Ground will be a very welcome addition to the area.

The show details the final summer of semi-lucidity for Gladys Green (Holly Kennedy), before she finally, completely succumbs to the dementia of Alzheimer's. At its onset, Gladys comes across as a daffy old woman, chatting away lightly with her grandson, Daniel Reed (Olin W. Morrow II), and a new painter/tenant, Don Bowman (Jerry Wolking), in The Waverly Gallery, a Greenwich Village haunt that acts as both Gladys' last anchor to reality and her family's last respite of separation before they must accept total responsibility for her.

The first act also introduces us to Gladys' daughter, Ellen Fine (Susan McDonald), and son-in-law, Howard Fine (Pat Flaherty). Each of them is patient but obviously nearing the last straw with Gladys. None of them are quite sure how to deal with her -- they feel shame at being annoyed, yet can't help but be exasperated by her antics -- and the way their fear and frustration ripples into their own lives away from her is an example of fantastic playwriting. They regard her with a mixture of caring, obligation, sadness and dread -- not sure of how to deal with a woman who barely resembles the person they grew to love, and reticent because her presence reminds them of their own mortality and the possibility that they, too, may follow her path.

Also worth noting, and lauding, is the use of dark humor throughout the first act, to lighten the load for the audience, while still getting the point across. You find yourself chuckling at the sarcasm or exasperation of the people onstage before realizing how sad the joke truly is.

The second act is much more tragic and harrowing, but it is handled with a profound grace that echoes with you long after the show's finale.

With a script this strong, the group producing it already has a leg up, but those involved don't let the material down. The direction, by Ms. Jansen, is perfectly pitched, and the actors all hit their marks.

Holly Kennedy (an attractive young woman transformed literally beyond recognition through makeup and performance into a decaying older lady) brings forth the eerie sadness of Gladys while chirping away in her own private world. Susan McDonald plays daughter Ellen as a woman being slowly wrung like a washrag, on the verge of crying in surrender and screaming in anger. And Jerry Wolking and Pat Flaherty do well in their limited roles mostly as unsure observers of Gladys's decline.

However, perhaps the most crucial performance is Olin Morrow's relaxed take on the narrator, Daniel Reed. As the ``window character'' who lets the audience into this world, Morrow must be accessible to the crowd while still displaying a wide range of emotions in his reactions to the ever-changing Gladys. Mr. Morrow handles the part masterfully.

The same can be said about pretty much all aspects of ``The Waverly Gallery,'' a dramatic gem that has put New Ground Theatre on the map as a force to be reckoned with on the Quad-Cities theater scene.

New Ground's next show will be ``Dinner With Friends,'' the 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama. It will run May 23-26 and May 30-June 2. If it's tackled with anything close to the verve and talent exhibited in ``Waverly,'' it should be a winner. I know I'm looking forward to seeing it.

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