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'Boston Marriage' Is Decidedly Twisted

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KATHY L. GREENBERG

Tribune Correspondent

Published: March 3, 2008

TAMPA Oh, what a tangled web we weave. "Boston Marriage" is a twisted tale of two women skirting respectability and the subversive, and Jobsite Theater's production nails it.

David Mamet plays are not easy (think "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Woods" and Madonna's vehicle "Speed-the-Plow"). His language is effected and over-the-top, but that's what makes his stories so titillating. The high-fallutin' dialogue both contrasts and emphasizes how desperately flawed his characters really are.

This play is no exception.

Anna and Claire are involved in a "Boston marriage," a 19th- and 20th-centuries term used for two women of independent means living together. Though the original reference may exclude a sexual relationship, Mamet's ladies are definitely bedfellows.

Anna (Katrina Stevenson) tells Claire (Emilia Sargent) that she has become a wealthy gentleman's mistress in order to secure their financial future. She dons a huge, shiny emerald necklace as proof of her score. But it's bad timing for Anna, because Claire discloses that she has fallen in love with another woman.

Miffed, Anna wavers between false dignity (characterized by snarky comments) and pouty insecurity.

She tries every trick in the book to woo Claire back into her life, from consenting to a chintz décor to mocking her for falling in love with an underage virgin. Nothing works. Claire has already invited her new paramour to their home and callously asks her former lover to accommodate. But before they can gel the new living arrangements, Anna and Claire realize an uncomfortable connection between all parties.

Catherine the maid (Alison Burns) is an unfortunate diversion for Anna's fury. Never mind that the girl is Scottish and efficient; Anna dismissively pegs her as a daft Irish peasant fresh from the potato farm whose name might as well be Nora, Mary or Scarlett O'Hara.

As Anna, Stevenson pounds out a powerful performance chock full of emotional range --impressive considering the character's unabashed superficiality. She deftly swings from proud deceiver to sulky, spoiled girl to sensual conniver. She is deliciously manipulative and especially great when engaging Burns.

Sargent is poised and refined as the thoroughly selfish Claire. Despite the air of sophistication, there's a sense that she's every bit the bottom-dweller and will do whatever it takes to survive in comfort.

Both Stevenson and Sargent deliver Mamet's tongue-twisting lines like the surest Shakespearean actors.

Burns is a riot as the maid. She's spared the convoluted dialogue and, with the occasional snappy comment, delivers most of her delightful performance through a series of mobile facial expressions and sharp, obligatory curtsies.

The Victorian set design and costumes smartly emphasize the play's contrasts of proper and disreputable. Directed by Karla Hartley, this production is for adults with a penchant for bawdy humor and innuendo. Prudes may stay home.

ON STAGE
Boston Marriage
WHEN: Through March 9; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Shimberg Playhouse, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa
HOW MUCH: $24.50; (813) 222-1001; www.tbpac.org

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