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The fault, dear Brutus, isn't in the stars
"Saturn Returns," by Theatre Exile (2nd review)
Jackie Schifalacqua
When do we start to feel our age? Do our bodies go first, or our minds? When does life cease to be an adventure and start becoming a walk in the past? How old is too young to stop living?
In astrology, if Saturn returns to the same place it was in the cosmos on the day you were born, this event presents you with a time of change. If you don't accept the change, you're destined to suffer the lessons of your life all over again.
The object lesson in Saturn Returns is one Gustin, a retired radiologist who spends his days in a run-down house filled with "whispers." To combat the silent noises, he hires a home health care worker named Suzanne— even though as Suzanne notes on her first day, there's nothing physically wrong with Gustin.
Moving backward
When Suzanne tells Gustin that she sees no need to work at his home, Gustin tells her a contrived and over-the-top story about his past by way of explanation. Far-fetched it may be, but Suzanne decides to stay on.
As the day morphs into night, 88-year-old Gustin mutates into his 58-year-old self. His late daughter, Zephyr, is alive and still living with her father. We begin to understand why.
Days later, as Suzanne takes up shop at the house, she metamorphoses into Gustin's young wife, Loretta, and Gustin becomes 28. The story he had related to Suzanne is all too real and heartbreaking, but more important in Gustin's mind all too present.
Life to Gustin is never having to say it hurts. It's all about living in pain.
Shakespeare's answer
The 30-year spans of his tragic vignettes coincide with his Saturn cycle. The planetary alignment may have presented Gustin with a chance to move on, but he's too self-centered to try. Shakespeare might have been thinking about a fellow like Gustin when he talked about fate not lying in the stars but in ourselves.
This masterpiece comes together gracefully under the deft tutelage of director Brenna Geffers and dramaturg David White, insuring a three-dimensional drama in one act.
Saturn Returns manages to transcend its occasional barracks vernacular because of playwright Noah Haidle's poetic talent and the consistent capacities of a veteran cast: Harry Philibosian, who plays the octogenarian Gustin; Amanda Schoonover playing the three parts of Suzanne, Zephyr, and Loretta; and David Raphaely and Joe Canuso as Gustin at 28 and 58, respectively.
A word of caution, if you're sensitive to strobes: Paul Peyton Moffits's lighting can be vexing.♦
To read another review by Pamela and Gresham Riley, click here.
To read a response, click here.
In astrology, if Saturn returns to the same place it was in the cosmos on the day you were born, this event presents you with a time of change. If you don't accept the change, you're destined to suffer the lessons of your life all over again.
The object lesson in Saturn Returns is one Gustin, a retired radiologist who spends his days in a run-down house filled with "whispers." To combat the silent noises, he hires a home health care worker named Suzanne— even though as Suzanne notes on her first day, there's nothing physically wrong with Gustin.
Moving backward
When Suzanne tells Gustin that she sees no need to work at his home, Gustin tells her a contrived and over-the-top story about his past by way of explanation. Far-fetched it may be, but Suzanne decides to stay on.
As the day morphs into night, 88-year-old Gustin mutates into his 58-year-old self. His late daughter, Zephyr, is alive and still living with her father. We begin to understand why.
Days later, as Suzanne takes up shop at the house, she metamorphoses into Gustin's young wife, Loretta, and Gustin becomes 28. The story he had related to Suzanne is all too real and heartbreaking, but more important in Gustin's mind all too present.
Life to Gustin is never having to say it hurts. It's all about living in pain.
Shakespeare's answer
The 30-year spans of his tragic vignettes coincide with his Saturn cycle. The planetary alignment may have presented Gustin with a chance to move on, but he's too self-centered to try. Shakespeare might have been thinking about a fellow like Gustin when he talked about fate not lying in the stars but in ourselves.
This masterpiece comes together gracefully under the deft tutelage of director Brenna Geffers and dramaturg David White, insuring a three-dimensional drama in one act.
Saturn Returns manages to transcend its occasional barracks vernacular because of playwright Noah Haidle's poetic talent and the consistent capacities of a veteran cast: Harry Philibosian, who plays the octogenarian Gustin; Amanda Schoonover playing the three parts of Suzanne, Zephyr, and Loretta; and David Raphaely and Joe Canuso as Gustin at 28 and 58, respectively.
A word of caution, if you're sensitive to strobes: Paul Peyton Moffits's lighting can be vexing.♦
To read another review by Pamela and Gresham Riley, click here.
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
Saturn Returns. By Noah Haidle; Brenna Geffers directed. Theatre Exile production through May 22 at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St. (above Market between Second and Third). (215) 218-4022 or www.theatreexile.org.
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