6/09/23: Walking With Bubbles
What: A new one-person autobiographical musical created by and starring Jessica Hendy (score by Brianna Kothari Barnes), about her marriage, divorce, and attempts to share custody with Adam, whose mental crises have led to his living on the streets of New York.
And? I don't really know how to talk about this show, except to say that it makes me deeply uncomfortable. I want to celebrate this woman's triumph of the things she's survived, but I can't separate that from the fact that she's sharing truly harrowing moments in someone else's mental distress. It feels voyeuristic, and a tiny bit feeding into the stigma that people with mental illness are a danger to those around them, when statistically speaking they are the biggest danger to themselves. And while one can and should hold Adam accountable for refusing treatment not only during his depression but also during his more serious psychotic break, I can't help feeling like he and his illness are being placed as the monster for Jessica to overcome (perhaps if we'd seen scenes of him when he was healthy, but the only times she gives him voice are when he's unwell, when he is cruel). Even writing that out I know I'm not being entirely fair. She spent years trying to help him, trying to get him to help himself. It's just, in the context of so many other narratives about mental illness, and the fact that in showing the worst moments of her life, she is also showing the worst moments in Adam's, I don't know how to be okay with this show.
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| Jessica Hendy as herself. Photo source. |
6/10/23: Days of Wine and Roses
What: Atlantic Theater presents a new musical adaptation of the 1958 teleplay/1962 film, reuniting the writing team behind The Light in the Piazza. The chamber musical tracks the courtship and marriage of Joe and Kirsten and their growing addiction to alcohol.
And? I will say, Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel are very good at allowing moments to breathe, to give them space and air and lift (Kelli O'Hara singing a Guettel melody, yes please, always). But it's always very hard for me to watch a story about people destroying themselves. I'll start to check out, probably in self-preservation (see: Over the Rainbow). The pacing and timeline of this show are a bit confusing--sometimes we seem to jump ahead years, and sometimes only days, with no immediate indication of which is which. Brian d'Arcy James and Kelli O'Hara are incredible performers, not just their distinct and unique vocals, but also as truly committed and grounded actors, and it's a gift to see them together. But I think I ultimately don't like the vehicle they're given for it.
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| Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James as Kirsten and Joe. Photo by Ahron R. Foster. |
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