Bill Pullman & Julia Stiles. Photo: Craig Schwartz
The first thing you have to know about this production of “Oleanna” is that stars Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles are supremely gifted artists at the top of their game. Doug Hughes direction is bold, imaginative and precise. The result is a spectacular production. “Oleanna” on Broadway is a mere 2-hour trip from Philadelphia. Discount tickets are available too.
Watching “Oleanna” you have to wonder if this series of meetings between a professor and one of his students could have had a more positive outcome. And, of course, it could have. Following the myriad threads of what is going on and what goes wrong between the two is fascinating and shattering all at once.
As the play opens, John, an Education professor, is having an intense, involved phone
conversation about the purchase of a new house. His student Carol sits nearby waiting, looking anguished and lost. She has come to see him because she doesn’t understand the material in his class or his book. John is on the brink of getting a promotion and tenure which will allow him to purchase the house for his family. Carol is terrified of
failing his course, a major setback when she has worked hard to gain admission to this college.
Right from the start, they talk past each other in a maddening and mystifying attempt to connect and get Carol back on track academically.
John is pompous, socially awkward, verbose and so obtuse in expressing himself that he becomes verbally trapped in his well-intentioned, sincere attempts to assist Carol. He doesn’t seem to know who he is or what his true role as a teacher should be. And then there are those eternal, intrusive phone calls John feels compelled to pick up, even at a pivotal moment when Carol is about to reveal something very significant about herself. Carol’s desperation grows as she and John fail miserably at understanding each other.
Carol accuses John of sexual harassment after their first meeting. When they meet a second time, John’s office becomes territory to be staked out in a fierce power struggle that becomes a deadly dance of misunderstood words and misguided movements. There are moments when the air becomes charged and there is a sudden shift in the atmosphere. In one stark moment, they stand facing away from each other on opposite sides of the office.
Bill Pullman is superb and galvanizing, his tightly-wound John a study in restless, relentless motion and tangled words and gestures. He appears to be driven by an over-zealous need to assist his failing student. When he finally sits still and silent on a bench with his back to the audience, his world collapsing around him, his fury and frustration are palpable and his presence just as powerful.
Julia Stiles is mesmerizing in her transformation from the emotionally needy student at the outset to the righteous automaton backed by her “group” to the smug demigoddess who tells the professor what he can and can not call his wife.
The events of “Oleanna” are confusing and controversial, but this interpretation is intelligent,
fully alive and wrought with finely considered detail and emotional depth. This production is not to be missed.
© 2009 Mary Cochrane McIvor
'Oleanna' : Stars Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles. Director: Doug Hughes. Performances now through December 6, John Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th St. (between Broadway and 8th Avenue), New York. Tickets: Visit 'Oleanna' web site or call 1-800-432-7250. 'Oleanna' website. Bill Pullman website: www.billpullman.org Julia Stiles blog Bill Pullman interview: 50 classy mintures with Bill Pullman Bill Pullman.org: Facebook Julia Stiles: Facebook
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