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Fefu and Her Friends
By Jenny Sandman
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Woman is not a human being. She is: 1, a mystery. 2, another species. 3, as yet undefined. 4, unpredictable . . . Women's spirit is sexual. That is why after coitus they dwell in nefarious feelings. Because that is their natural habitat . . . And [women] take those feelings with them to the afterlife where they corrupt the heavens, and they are sent to hell where through suffering they may shed those feelings and return to earth as a man.
--Julia |
Fefu is probably deranged to begin with. She "pretends" to shoot her husband with a gun that may or may not be loaded. She likes men better than women and in fact finds women "loathsome." Fefu and her friends are a group of society women, circa 1935. They're bored and affected in the manner of wealthy women who have too much free time.
The play begins with plans for a charity benefit being planned at Fefu's New England estate. During the second part, four different scenes play simultaneously in four different rooms. The audience is led around to each in no particular order. In the final act, the women turn giggly, then bitchy, and then everything takes a tragic turn.
Though not a realistic play neither is it strictly allegorical. Director Krissy Smith sums up the dark imagery and emotional backwash at the heart of the play as "a provocative statement about women to this day." Fornes' self-loathing, self-doubting women only gradually come to understand the glossy surface and the dark underbelly that is the dual reality of their lives. It's thought-provoking but challenging, not for those who enjoy escapism in their theatre.
The play has been given a fine production with a uniformly strong cast, led by Nikki Alikakos as Fefu and Elizabeth Howard as the emotional linchpin, Julia. Julia does a fantastic job with the long monologue in Part 2 that sums up the entire play. The women's personalities compete with each other but that's the point. Director Krissy Smith knows her stuff and keeps the action fresh and crisp.
The elaborate set makes very inventive use of the small downstairs space. The main playing area, the living room, is backed up against the entry staircase, so that the audience must cross over the set to get to the seats. The other rooms (utilized in Part 2) are divided with black curtains and have been given just as much care as the main space: The back porch has a hanging porch swing and a real patch of dirt; the kitchen has a number of period appliances; Julia's bedroom is as claustrophobic as she feels it to be and her wheelchair is as authentic as the rich period costumes. The set's only pitfall is that because the rooms are so close together, the four scenes in Part 2 compete with each other, making it hard to hear one over the other.
All in all this is an excellent production of a play that's hard to understand and with a pretty discouraging its message. Consider it as an antidote to frivolous, overly saccharine holiday fare.
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FEFU AND HER FRIENDS Written by Maria Irene Fornes Directed by Krissy Smith With Nikki Alikakos, Elizabeth Howard, Margarita Martinez, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, Courtney Reynolds, Sasha Cucciniello, Nicola Riske and Kiki Allgeier Lighting Design by Garin Marshall Costume Design by Sarah Latty Sound Design by Damien Lennon Running time: Two hours with one ten-minute intermission The Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street; 212-352-3101 12/2/04 through 12/19/04; Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7 pm. All tickets $15. Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on December 3rd performance |
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Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
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6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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