'Later Life' falters

By Wes Woods, On-Line Forty-Niner

Tuesday, September 1, 1998

Despite some fine acting accompanied by funny and witty dialogue, "Later Life," stumbles along until it suddenly ends.

PLAY REVIEW

Written by A.R. Gurney, "Later Life" is set in the present day and is about two acquaintances who attempt to rekindle an old flame after 30 years. It is a basic love story that never goes anywhere until it finally reaches its anticlimactic conclusion.

The story takes place in the Boston apartment terrace of a high-rise building on an early September evening.

The play begins decently enough, when Jim (played by John Bolen) agonizes over being "nicotine challenged" to Austin (James Covert), with Sally (Susan E. Taylor) watching. From here, Austin gets introduced to an old acquaintance, Ruth (Danielle Desmond) and the story unfolds.

Austin, unfortunately, doesn't seem to remember how and when he met Ruth, even though she recalls their meeting with an almost telegraphic memory. As he slowly starts to recall their involvement, other participants become thrown in the mix.

Marion (Jonine Wright), a constant complainer, begins rattling off problems about her husband Roy (Rolf Theison), who then fires right back in his sarcastic tone. When Marion whips out her baby pictures to show Ruth and Austin, Roy jabbers, "Watch it, sometimes she flashes her pornography collection."

There is also Brooklyn-bred Nancy, a neurotic person, and Ted and Esther, a Southern politically incorrect couple who have just moved to Boston. They pry into Ruth's life under the pretense of "everyone has a story" when Austin steps out to get drinks.

The director, Randy Bowden, does a fabulous job of keeping it all together. Despite the influx of characters, one never forgets who's who.

The lighting (by Russ Clelland) was splendid with a sunset backdrop representing the Boston harbor that changed color as the evening went along. A bare-bones set designed by Roger Smart with some chairs and the side of an apartment worked well with the story.

All the cast performed great, with few, if any mishaps. While overplaying the role of Ruth at certain times to being almost comic, Desmond was still convincing.

Giggi Campbell as Nancy almost stole the show with her obnoxious, beer drinking persona. The only real problems were when Sally and Austin seemed sort of stiff and uninspired, but recovered as the story unfolded.

Despite some writing problems, "Later Life," is still a good play, and not a bad way to spend an evening.

"Later Life," is currently running at the Long Beach Playhouse through Oct. 3.