A profound and humorous study on contemporary escapism is presented in Maple and Vine by the award-winning playwright Jordan Harrison directed by the associate artistic director of A.C.T. Mark Rucker at one of the most beautiful and beloved San Francisco theatres.
In a simple plot, a young couple of successful professionals (Emily Donahoe as Katha and Nelson Lee as Ryu) feels increasingly more stressed out by work, finds less and less time to communicate, and suffers from the pressures of the busy life in a big city.
Offering a solution to all their problems, a dashing couple of Dean (Jamison Jones) and Ellen (Julia Coffey) arrive on the scene – dressed impeccably in the 1950s pin-striped suit and wasp-waisted dress – and invite the young couple to join them in their time warp society located somewhere in the Midwest. They promise that in their land of milk and honey the time stands still for all involved, the year is always 1955, and therefore the life is easy.
Eager to escape their everyday, Katha and Ryu fall into the trap, and despite the many rediscovered prejudices and limitations of the said period (the absence of sushi and focaccia is the least of them) seem to enjoy it…
The lack of contemporary freedoms might be too obvious when Katha and Ryu are being referred to as an “interracial couple,” because she is White and he is Japanese; when Ryu is pointedly reminded that Japan used to be the enemy of the United States only a few years ago; and when his work supervisor Roger (Danny Bernardy) is pressed to arrange secret meetings with his boyfriend instead of openly dating or even marrying him, but the characters are set on going through the six-month trial period implemented by the Society of Dynamic Obsolescence – a 1955 “intentional community.”
In terms of delivery, the first act of the play unfolding in a New York City apartment drags along in unconvincing chopped scenes and brief dialogs between Katha and Ryu, however, Jamison Jones, Julia Coffey doubling as Jenna and Danny Bernardy as Omar – Katha’s office subordinates, save it by their more engaging performance.
It is not easy to figure out what is at the base of this non-delivery – could be the utter lack of chemistry between the two actors playing the main characters.
The second act, in the 1955 intentional community, picks up the pace with more action and interaction, for a large part thanks to the trio of secondary characters, even though the heroine remains partially frozen and unconvincing in her key monologue on “authenticity.”
All in all, the show comes across as a refreshing new look on an old notion of escapism and its many forms – sometimes troubling, sometimes cute.
The venue seems especially appropriate because people dressed in period attire of the 1950s are a familiar sight on the streets of San Francisco known for its freedom of expression and playfulness.
The paradox lays in the notion that, as the playwright is telling us, the game of full skirts with petticoats, darling little hats and gloves, and suits-and-fedoras might be a masqueraded cry for help.
Maple and Vine runs through April 22 at ACT, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. Tickets and information at: 415-834-3200 or www.act-sf.org.
Image: courtesy A.C.T. Ellen (Julia Coffey, center), Dean (Jamison Jones) and Katha (Emily Donahoe)in Maple and Vine. Photo by Kevin Berne.
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