Sara Morsey and Patti Gardner share stories as they bond in Summer,1976 at GableStage (Photos by Magnus Stark)
By Bill Hirschman
One benefit of aging is the ability to see where we came from, where we have travelled, contemplate our past decisions, but most significantly to wisely re-evaluate the meaning, standing and worth of that journey’s elements.
Summer, 1976 at GableStage does examine the catchphrase “What is the nature of friendship?” but the answers here are not shallow Hallmark greeting card clichés. Instead, the evening is an incisive investigation that simultaneously celebrates and unsparingly cross-examines the bonds we create.
Two present-day women talk to the audience recalling their voyage when they met by chance in 1976. They developed an intensely growing link over three months and then wrestled with the subsequent unraveling of what they assumed would be a lifelong relationship. But it wasn’t and you feel it from the first speech.
The pair sometimes steps out of their monologues to replay scenes of their bonding and dissolution. Easily one of the most affecting – and painfully recognizable — comes when they are leaving each other for some reason. They get lost for a few moments in a clasping hug that is equal parts the claim of devotion and silent desperation that what they thought was lasting is actually vulnerable to the erosion of time.
David Auburn, who wrote the Tony-winning Proof, delivers a fine multi-level script that intentionally presents characters who look and believe they are recognizable (bordering on stereotypes) yet in fact are composed of contradictory and complex layers.
But that solid script is elevated another level or four by the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport and the characters are filled out to far beyond three dimensions by the incomparable energy-driven Patti Gardner and Sara Morsey.
Alice (Gardner) and Diana (Morsey) are near-neighbors in a medium-sized Ohio college town who meet in 1976 because Alice’s pre-tenured husband has created a cost-free babysitting co-op among several families.
The married Alice and divorced Diana don’t initially connect in part because they seem so different. They hook up because their five-year-olds play together. Alice styles herself a latter-day “macrame bag” wannabe free spirit hippie. Diana comes across a more “square” suburbanite who teaches art at a local college and has family money. But upon sharing joints and stories, their bond begins to deepen and secrets seep out. Indeed, Alice is more of a typical middle-class dweller than Diana; Diana has layers to her that Alice would not initially guess. Alice’s kitchen is a mess; Diana’s is meticulously organized – personality qualities living barely under their surfaces.
But as soon as you think you have discovered the layer under the stereotypical external, you realize there are additional and contrary layers you and they are discovering. One woman doesn’t finish things, but it’s not who you think. One seems addicted to shallow readings, but she actually has delved into classical literature.
That lesson is that people are not easily assessed and who can be easily characterized.
But the image is a warm smile, especially that of two women adrift in the modern world, sitting on the floor leaning against each other, having found someone who understands, and sharing the knowledge that you are not alone.
The ensuing arc is punctuated with talk about sex, lots of mid-’70s pop culture references, considerable jokes, plans for a future.
But Gardner, Morsey, Newport and Auburn don’t shy away from the truth-piercing reality as the women realize their joining was not as impenetrable as they believed, just a temporary liaison.
Newport skillfully leads the actresses and us through moments in which one woman’s answer usually has something buried underneath. She has Alice usually stand still or move smoothly through the environment, while she has Diana leap around, move angularly with limbs in motion.
Suffusing the entire tale is the sweet regretful sadness and genuine warmth with only gentle judgment that nothing turned out how they – and you – yearned it would. The finale is not happy or tragic; it’s just reality.
Note: Gablestage has kindly dedicated the show as a tribute to legendary critic Christine Dolen. A memorial in her honor will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at The Wick Theatre.
Summer, 1976 runs through April 20 at GableStage, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables. Shows 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sundays and some Saturdays. Call 305-445-1119 or visit gablestage.org for tickets. Running time about 90 minutes, no intermission. Tickets range from $50 to $70 includes processing.
