"The Year of Magical Thinking" at Aurora Theatre Company

Stacy Ross in "The Year of Magical Thinking"; Aurora Theatre photo by David Allen

Now and then I think about the perfect theater experience. What would it be like if someone created a play just for me? It would probably be a small play, intimate, using actors and a director I really like, and of course a terrific writer.

Aurora might have come pretty close to that ideal with this production of Joan Didion's play The Year of Magical Thinking, adapted from her terrific book of the same title. I've been a huge fan of Didion's writing for years, so I wanted to see the play, and then I saw that they had cast Stacy Ross in the only role, and hired Nancy Carlin to direct it in Aurora's little 3/4 thrust stage theater. This was going to be something.

The Play

There is only one actor. That actor plays Joan Didion, because The Year of Magical Thinking is an autobiographical work that commences with the death of Didion's husband, John Gregory Dunne, with whom she has collaborated on a lot of work over the years. His sudden, unexpected demise while sitting at their kitchen table comes on the heels of a daily visit to their daughter, who was at the time in an induced coma at a local hospital.

What ensues is a remarkable chronicle of the next year or so, as Didion struggles to cope with the reality of a funeral and other aspects of her daily existence, while at the same time strongly believing, magically, that her husband is not really dead, and is coming back if only she does the right things.

The book is amazing, and well worth reading, and the play is an excellent condensation and encapsulation of enough of it to give a feel for the dissonance going through Didion's head and heart. The matter-of-fact way that Didion confronts what is for her a terribly uncharacteristic flight into fantasy underscores how an emotional shock can drive someone into wholly unrecognizable behavior. And yet at another level, she kept up a facade of normality, and continued to keep her journals from which she was able to extract the material for the book.

And then for those familiar with the book, the play continues on a bit, with a few more little twists that one wouldn't expect if this were just a straight rendering of the book's story on stage. I have always found Didion's writing absorbing and compelling, and though this work is a particularly difficult subject matter, that makes it all the more interesting on some levels.

I thought the writing and the adaptation were excellent.

The Production

As you can see from the photo at the top, it's a pretty simple set that somewhat dwarfs the single actor, chair, and side table. There is a definite sense of a small person adrift in a big space. Kent Dorsey's set is evocative without forcing itself into the picture. It's a really impressive-looking space, and Kurt Landisman's lighting brings it out at times, while always keeping the focus on Ross. My only little issue was with the sound, as from my seat on the east side, the music and other sound cue were nearly all inaudible (though the words of the play were always clear).

Which brings us to the acting, because in a solo play, that's really what it's about. Stacy Ross was an inspired choice to portray Didion, as she can easily portray a big personality such as Didion, including the self-deprecating asides that abound. in the script. But what really comes through is the timing, the pauses of contemplation or hesitation, the moments of introspection that seem spontaneous, and the gradual shifts in and out of manic energy. Ross and Carlin have done a masterful job of pacing the show so that it doesn't seem possible that the full ninety minutes have passed, but somehow the whole story has emerged.

And ultimately, that's what theater is about (and especially a solo show): telling a story. This is a truly compelling story to start with, and the portrayal of the character here just layers more and more meaning onto the words in the script. It's a tremendous exhibition of raw emotion tempered by dispassionate writing, and the delivery is the key to it all.

Bottom Line

I loved this show. I was a little concerned that my expectations were going to be so high that whatever came on stage was bound to disappoint, but it did not. It was a really smooth, utterly convincing rendering of this very difficult, emotional script. In the wrong hands it could have descended into melodramatic hand-wringing and over-emoting.

But this show is marvelously controlled, finely tuned, with subtlety and grace in the face of a nightmare scenario. There's a lot of reality impacting, and it's both fascinating and horrific to watch how it all plays out.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this show. It has now been extended to run through July 28, so there are lots of opportunities to see it still. Go.