Maev Beaty: Photo by Dahlia Katz
Live and in person at the Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Canadian Stage. Running until Nov. 3, 2024.
From the book of the same name by Elizabeth Strout
Adapted by Rona Munro
Directed by Jackie Maxwell
Set and costumes by Michael Gianfrancesco
Lighting by Bonnie Beecher
Sound and composition by Jacob Lin
Projection designer, Amelia Scott
Cast: Maev Beaty
A beautiful ache of a play about Lucy Barton, a woman navigating her way through a difficult life to revelation. Maev Beaty as Lucy Barton is exquisite. Jackie Maxwell’s sensitive direction makes the whole production shimmer.
The Story. Lucy Barton has a lot of memories, brought on by her nine weeks stay in the hospital, initially to have her appendix removed. But there were complications. She has been recovering, alone in her hospital room and she’s had time to think. Memories come gushing out. And there was shock. Lucy awoke in her hospital room to see her long-estranged mother sitting in a chair at the end of her bed. Her mother overcame her fear of flying and came to see her sick daughter in hospital. Lucy’s early life was one of poverty, being ostracized in school because she was of a lower class and poor. Her parents were unaffectionate and even mean. There was trauma in her life. Her life changed when she left home to go to university. She was shunned by her parents because of that. But here was Lucy Barton’s mother and with her are the memories.
The Production and comment. Michael Gianfrancesco’s design is spare and elegant. The stage is bare except for a hospital bed and a lone visitor’s chair a few feet off from the bed. There is a projection in the background of waves of in muted colours that remind me of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” even though the waves in “The Scream” are orangy-red. Still, that ‘look’ sets the tone, an idea. When the production starts, the waves move and undulate, calming. Over the course of the production the projections subtly change into a starry sky, the suggestion of a hospital corridor and various locations in the narrative. It is a smooth blending of Amelia Scott’s projections, Bonnie Beecher’s evocative, beautiful lighting and Jacob Lin’s soundscape.
Lucy Barton (Maev Beaty) is dressed in a beautiful silky shirt and elegant pants. This is a stylish woman. Hearing Lucy Barton slowly spill her guts about her life and her family, is like observing the resultant open wound. With every story and experience Lucy has had it’s like watching an accident happen. We want to look away but are so mesmerized by Maev Beaty’s graceful, nuanced performance as both Lucy Barton and her mother, that we are gently gripped. Maev Beaty takes the audience on Lucy’s emotional journey. Recollections make her shudder at their horror: her fear of snakes; the lack of heat in the garage in which she grew up; the lack of hugs; a husband who doesn’t visit in the hospital but feels Lucy needs a private room; the loneliness.
Because of Rona Munro’s beautiful adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s celebrated novel, “My Name Is Lucy Barton,” we follow Lucy’s rollercoaster ride of a story of being poor, cold and hungry when younger, desperate for her parents’ affection and not getting it, and ostracized by her school mates.
Director Jackie Maxwell sensitively guides the production through all the subtleties and subtext of the play. Maneuvering Maev Beaty around the space from the hospital bed to the chair to being in the space is beautifully fluid, organic and natural. The emotions are revealed slowly and then almost like a torrent.
To survive that Lucy had to be ruthless (as a friend told her to be) and she was. Through it all Lucy was observant, caring, intensely loving to her two young children, patient and uncomplaining with her distant husband, and non-judgmental with her friends. She lamented the loss of a young man to AIDS without even considering, (or caring) that he was gay. She just lamented his loss. When Lucy became a writer, she knew what her story was and the kind of person she had become. Angst seemed to slip away with that knowledge.
Watching Maev Beaty play Lucy Barton, through all her painful memories and disappointments, is like watching a wound heal. Miraculous.
Canadian Stage Presents:
Plays until November 3, 2024.
Running time: 105 minutes (no intermission).