The Sea - Five stars
The Sea
Time Out - New York
Jeff Lewonczyk
May 3, 2007
Audiences familiar with British playwright Edward Bond?s grim, violent 1965 play Saved (featuring a famous scene in which a baby is stoned to death) may be surprised to discover that The Sea (1973) comes from the same pen. This cosmically inclined neo-Chekhovian romp set in a stiflingly small seaside town in 1907?presented in a superlative production by the Actors Company Theatre?proves to be every bit as masterful as its sensational predecessor.
The narrative takes its own peculiar shape, from the show?s storm-soaked beginning (in which a local boy is tragically drowned) and the strange antics of Hatch, a space-alien-fearing town draper (wily Greg McFadden), to the steely machinations of the town?s diva tyrant, Mrs. Rafi (the brilliant Delphi Harrington, whose iron grip on the proceedings extends from stage to audience). Bond never stoops to the careful predictability associated with the time period.
Though such a description would seem to imply a play drowning in its own whimsy, nothing about Bond?s writing, Scott Alan Evans?s impeccable direction or the ensemble?s virtuosity is remotely treacly or cute. Like the body of water for which the play is named, life in The Sea is hard and vast and rarely does what one expects. That this production captures that ebb and flow with such grace, wit, excitement, heart and intelligence is a tribute to both the writer?who should be known in this country for more than onstage infanticide?and the company, who should be applauded for setting sail with this challenging, satisfying drama.