When something terrible happens in our lives, we must find a way to rationalize it. Our brains seek out reasons why this has happened and who let it happen. Edward Albee essentially asks just those questions in his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "Three Tall Women," playing at The Lyric Stage Company though April 26. The catch is that he isn't explaining something bad that has happened; he is explaining someone bad that happened to be in his life.
Albee has said that he wrote the largely autobiographical "Three Tall Women" to get his horrible adoptive mother "out of his system." He did not mean to create a sympathetic character, but rather work out how someone could become so crotchety, unpleasant and vain throughout the course of a lifetime. Albee was raised by conservative parents whose values were at odds with his homosexual lifestyle, prompting him to leave home at the age of 18, much like the son in "Three Tall Women."
The actresses of the Lyric Stage Company defy Albee's intentions. Albee may not have meant to create a sympathetic mother character, but his writing, coupled with the acting of Paula Plum, Anne Scurria and Liz Hayes, creates one anyway.
The play opens with an intolerable old woman on her deathbed, ordering her caretaker around and insulting the young lawyer who has come to take care of some financial matters the old woman has pointedly ignored for some time. Scurria is very much in control of both the scene and the character of the old woman, never named in the show and listed in the program simply as "A." Scurria sits in her chair like a queen, saying whatever she likes whenever she chooses, yet she always manages to hobble to the bathroom in slippers, crying because of her injured arm.
The first act is essential to the play but becomes slightly uncomfortable at times. There is a clear disconnect between the old woman "A," her caretaker "B" and her lawyer "C." It's hard for the characters to relate to or understand each other, and this dynamic can be very frustrating for the audience. At the same time though, the disconnect helps to emphasize how destructive "A" really is. Everywhere she goes, she puts up walls and casts out positive relationships to further underscore her isolation.
The second act is when things really start to get interesting. "A" has entered into a coma, truly on her deathbed now. "B" and "C" walk on stage in formal beige dresses, inspecting the old woman's sorry situation. As the dialogue progresses, the unusual opening lines of the act and odd behavior and dress of the characters become clear. The old woman and her inexplicable actions are finally about to be explained.
The disconnect among the actresses is much less evident in the second act. The energy picks up considerably and is really used effectively in a back-and-forth of monologues, questions and answers. Everyone's presence on stage is justified, which is important in what is essentially a three-person play. Spiro Veloudos' direction brings the characters closer as the act progresses, coming together and pulling apart, both physically and figuratively, breaking the confines of the set in attempts to prove their points both to each other and to the audience.
The old woman definitely has a story to tell. It's complex, and though Albee never meant for everyone who hears it to sympathize with it, there are many times in the play where the viewers find themselves doing just that. A visit to the little theater in Copley is highly recommended, even if it's only to decide whether or not to sympathize with the stingy, nasty old woman's sad story.
Three Tall Women
Written by Edward AlbeeDirected by Spiro VeloudosAt the Lyric Stage through April 26Tickets $50 and up
