Make no mistake about it. Our Song, currently running at New Phoenix Theatre, is not the story of romance gone bad. This is a wrong-headed hook-up which, for its partners, becomes more disastrous the longer it lasts.
Our Song has adapted for the stage by Keith Waterhouse from his own novel. Even without knowledge that both script and book are based upon Waterhouse experience, it is intriguing in a voyeuristic kind of way.
It’s U.S. premier is staged by Robert Waterhouse, the author’s son who is artistic director of New Phoenix Company. This adds another layer of intrigue which we can be put aside for the moment and can be discussed amongst the Waterhouse family.
A woman arrives at a christening party… uninvited. She scarcely knows anyone but they all notice her and wonder. She is in pursuit of the host, exactly as suspected by the host himself and his wife… in fact, by everyone except the newly baptized child.
This hardly fits the bill for what some writers call “meeting cute”. However, in the play it is the beginning of a bookmark episode in the life of Roger, a reasonably well off partner in an advertising firm. The matter ends for Roger and Angela, the enigmatic women who arrives at his door, not by their own reasoning but by a swift act of fate.
What is Angela after? Sex, affection, money? Sure. And what else you got?
Roger readily provides for her. What does Roger get for bestowing upon Angela money, expensive nights on the town, luxurious gifts, pricey trips abroad and his utter adoration? Not much. Roger is more than satisfied with keeping Angela even if he never really has her. It bears mention that he is twice her age, but you might have guessed this.
The preceding details are provided to the audience in the very first minutes of Our Song. The drama here is how these seeds fall on the ground, take root and grow beyond any control.
The play itself begins closer to the present as Roger (Waterhouse’s self-created representative) recalls the events that have lead to him sitting down to type the story of his affair with Angela. Roger is well aware the whole affair had been more than he had anticipated, but he has never been smart enough to have avoided it. It is as if he was headed for a carousel ride but somehow wound up on the meanest roller coaster in he park.
Richard Lambert’s performance as Roger grows more interesting as the show progresses. When Lambert engages the character’s dissatisfaction and eventual anger Roger becomes a character to be reckoned with.
Bethany Sparacio played Angela with steely bravado and velvet determination. Sparacio establishes Angela’s control by being unflappable when faced with Lambert’s exuberance.
As established by Waterhouse the dramatist and Waterhouse the director, we glimpse a very specific, polite adultery that belongs to a certain class of people living in a society which has standards for this sort of thing. Roger actually treats Judith, his wife very well. While he dotes on Angela he bestows his tempers upon her as well, sparing his good wife the worst of his behavior.
Our Song has a remarkably strong retinue of actors in smaller supporting roles. Pamela Mangus, Christian Brandjes and Jeffrey Coyle have only brief stage time but expertly allow audiences to understand the real world of this play which is ignored by Roger during his blinkered days and nights with Angela.
Pamela Mangus plays Judith, Roger’s wife. Judith is never unaware of what Roger is up to, a matter Mangus plays very well. Mangus wears the face of a woman in a showcase marriage with a man she loves. Magnus intelligence and dignity give Judith spine.
As his business partner, Christian Brandjes traces increasing annoyance with Roger’s declining office presence. Jeffrey Coyle is a family friend with who smiles while transacting a less than friendly agenda. Mangus, Brandjes and Coyle offer contrapuntal nuance that allow the Roger-Angela scenes to be performed in vivid, broad strokes.
For the record, Bethany Sparacio stepped into the role of Angela on opening weekend with less than a week’s notice. Kelly Meg Brennan, originally cast as Angela, suffered an injury impairing her onstage mobility and played the role of Belle, Angela’s best friend. When her recovery is complete, Brennan will return as Angela for the remainder of the run and Sparacio will resume as Belle.
I imagine Sparacio was successful on opening night for two reasons. First, she is very talented, very insightful and lends humor to even serious scenes with bedeviling effect. Second, she has clearly benefited from the foundation established in prior weeks of rehearsal by Ms. Brennan who is also a talented and canny actress. In any case, and in either role, these are two actresses worth knowing and Our Song is a chance to see them on stage together.
Some will come to The Phoenix in the belief that Our Song is a romance. In this, they are abetted by the shows publicity. Really, romance is less a feature here than the terse realities shared by Waterhouse pêre. The title is derived from a tidbit scripted by Waterhouse which clearly delineates what that song means to Roger as opposed to what it means to Angela. And therein lies the truth to the affair. And how each of the characters in Our Song gets to that truth is a drama well played.
Who might like Our Song: Married, engaged, casual or committed… couples should proceed to this box office with caution. This autopsy of a relationship might be a strain to top all the other stresses that holiday season tosses in your path. Doubtless, seeing Our Song might raise some interesting conversations between couples after seeing this show. Single people might be the target audience Our Song. The can leave the theater counting independence as a blessing and thus taking the strain off of finding a date for New Year’s Eve.
Our Song (through December 18); Christian Brandjes, Kelly Meg Brennan, Jeffrey Coyle, Guy De Federicis, Richard Lambert, Pamela Rose Mangus and Bethany Sparacio in the Keith Waterhouse’s stage adaptation of his novel, directed by Robert Waterhouse. New Phoenix Theatre on the Park, 95 Johnson Park. NewPhoenixTheatre.org or (716) 853-1334.
Photo: Love Me, Love Me Not: Richard Lambert as Roger and Kelly Meg Brennan as Angela in Our Song. Photog: Dan Walkler.
Conjoint Analysis
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