Review: "A Delicate Balance" undone by languid pacing

 

Photo Credit: Michal Daniel

Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance depicts a household in disorder, each member straining to maintain relationships from which they feel increasingly detached. The complex character dynamic intends to hit uncomfortably close to home by depicting estrangements reflective of stifling stable lifestyles. By intent, the subject matter should be disquieting. Unfortunately the new production at the Guthrie, excepting some truly remarkable moments, falls victim to a languid pace that stalls the empathetic momentum just when it’s needed the most.

As the play opens, Agnes and Tobias appear to be an average upper-class couple with years of marriage and memories behind them. Before long, however, we find that this surface of suburban contentment hides long lingering insecurities and mistrust. The presence of Agnes’ caustic alcoholic sister Claire only exacerbates their unease, as does the return of Julia, their 39 year-old daughter in retreat from her fourth failed marriage. As If this weren’t enough to upset the delicate balance of their meticulously constructed lives, a visit from the couple’s best friends, Harry and Edna, threatens to become a permanent living arrangement when the visiting couple confesses to being terrified by the deep loneliness of their lives together.

It’s heady subject matter, daring to probe beneath the pleasantries of family and friendship to question the strength of those frayed bonds precariously holding relationships together. Even further troubling is the catastrophic consequence of breaking those weakened bonds. We should feel the anxiety of seeing into a sterile future of faded love and irrational routine. Yet while this production does manage to intellectually convey such themes, the emotional connection goes lacking.

The main culprit is an unhurried pace that keeps the action at a steady crawl. While this deliberate pacing works well in establishing tension, the slow boil gradually loses steam in the final act. Instead of feeling exhilarated at the climactic moment, the audience is more likely to feel exhausted. We’ve been sitting on heightened emotions so long, that the cries of pain become shrill histrionics. Nor does it help that the play contains two intermissions, a decision that might make sense structurally, but diminishes the emotional buildup.

Which is not to say that A Delicate Balance is not without quality. The actors are uniformly strong, showcasing a range of emotions that generally ring true. Raye Birk, as Tobias, gives a particularly moving portrayal, his initial display of weak-willed indifference gradually revealed as a self-defense mechanism against the unspoken doubts and fears governing his existence. His recollection of a pet cat that for unknown reasons lost all affection for him is conveyed with palpable pain and confusion.

Margaret Daly, as Agnes, is relatable in her determination to keep their home together, despite the effort or ultimate worth. Playing daughter Julia, Charity Jones brings a spoiled sense of privilege while Agenes’ sister Claire, played by Candy Buckley, provides refreshing levity through an irreverent wit as dry as the martinis with which she fuels herself. As the imposing best-friends, Harry and Edna, Stephen Yoakam and Angela Timberman do a fine job of alternating between imposing nuisances and terrified castaways.

The set design is as impeccably achieved as the characterizations, being warm and empty, a tastefully decorated habitation that somehow doesn’t feel lived-in. As imagined by set designer John Arnone, the luxurious setting feels capable of crumbling beneath the characters’ emotional weight. Lighting designer Don Sarnutzer shades the room with great effect, giving a particularly striking aspect to the morning sun that signals the play’s conclusion, suggesting the reprieve of a new day.

But even such considerable attributes cannot overcome the stalled momentum of the final act, emotionally weighing down A Delicate Balance, making the production one that will be far more discussed than it will be felt.

A Delicate Balance runs through March 1^st.