Still: Tim Daly and Jayne Atkinson in a World Premiere That Surprises
Dorset Theatre Festival
The photo below is from the initial scene of Still, just opened at the Dorset Theatre Festival in Dorset, Vermont. The photo above is from somewhere in the middle of the play. What has happened in between is the unexpected.
This contemporary two-person, conversation-driven piece begins with former lovers in a hotel bar meeting again after decades of living in the other’s absence. The beginning is a little frothy, with each catching the other up on his or her life, a little teasing, a few shared memories. You think you’re in for another hour or so of witty banter interwoven with wistful reminiscences tied to the passage of time and the realities of age. And there is a slight undercurrent of will they or won’t they, which always stokes an audience’s attention.
You would be wrong. The play turns on a dime into something else (which will not be revealed here.) It’s no longer frothy and it is suddenly ever so deep, two people in confrontation with their past and their present. And the future? Well . . . it needs to take a backseat while old wrongs and present difficulties sort themselves out. If ever.
Tim Daly and Jayne Atkinson produce that kind of acting that is so skillful it makes you feel they aren’t acting at all. Daly’s Mark, a banker, is restrained; Atkinson as Helen is a writer, more emotive, as befits their characters and backstories. Their gestures, their phrasing and delivery are so natural it seems as if the audience may have stumbled upon two real-life people in the midst of a reunion, conversation, argument, sex. Kudos to playwright Lia Romeo for the credibility of the dialogue (and a personal thanks for her words on the topic of motherhood), and to director Adrienne Campbell-Holt for the seeming overall magic she has wrought. The flying avocado is a welcome touch.
Apart from this particular storyline, or maybe even within it, it’s a rare moment on stage or screen to see older people—with a catalog of professed physical imperfections—portrayed as vibrant, loving, and sexual persons.
The play is heavy with the notion of “still,” the title conveying a sense of permanence, continuation, something existing through the years. Then there’s the “what if?”, the eternal question that keeps the characters—and the audience—speculating. The ending of the play comes too soon for the audience, but for the characters, just in time.
Still is on stage at the Dorset Playhouse through August 5, 2023. Tickets are available here.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.