Sunday, January 22, 2012

Theater Review: The Road to Mecca


Physical, Emotional Freedoms Can Be Very Different Things
By Lauren Yarger
The stunning pinks, oranges and purples that light up the walls and ceiling of the otherwise small and uninteresting dwelling are a sharp contract to their artist creator: an insecure, grandmotherly loner who just wants to stay in Mecca. But then 1974 South Africa is a world of contradictions.

For Africaner Miss Helen (Rosemary Harris), Mecca is the house where she lived with her late husband in the Karoo village of New Bethesda, South Africa, and where her odd sculptures (unseen) adorn the property. Inside, the colors and light reflected by candles, glitter and mirrors are the magical expression of her true self. (The terrific set is by Michael Yeargan.)

The villagers mostly have put up with her quirks over the years. Sometimes they throw rocks at her statues of owls and other things -- He's pulling up his trousers, not taking them down, she asserts -- but mostly they have ignored her. A series of accidents which have left Helen's hands burned, however, might rob her of her freedom and the sanctuary of her home crammed with the beloved odds and ends she has collected throughout her life.

Minister Marius Byleveld (Jim Dale) and a 17-year-old black woman who visits to avoid the abuse of a drunken husband are the only people Helen sees regularly at her home. Marius pressures Helen to sign papers giving up her home and to relocate to a nice room with space for a few of her possessions that has become available at a retirement home run by the church. Helen's resistance is waning until the unexpected arrival of good friend Elsa Barlow (Carla Gugino).

Elsa isn't afraid of stirring up a little trouble. After all, she has been reprimanded for having her students in an  all-black school in Capetown write essays about racial inequality. She always has been a lifeline to the widowed artist and when she receives an alarming letter from Helen about the turn of events in her life, she drops everything to drive 12 hours down the road to Mecca and help her friend.

After catching up on all the latest village gossip, Elsa privately encourages Helen to stand up to Marius. When he arrives, and almost competes for Helen's loyalty and friendship, Elsa oddly won't take the role of Helen's champion despite the artist's pleas for help. Instead, she urges her friend to sign the papers if she can't take a stand on her own.

It's all a little confusing, perhaps because the script isn't up to par with most of Athold Fugard's other tales of South Africa under Apartheid, despite the fact that this Roundabout Theatre Company production is directed by Gordon Edelstein, who has helmed premieres of the playwright's works (Coming Home and Have You Seen Us?), as well as The Train Driver at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT where he is artistic director. The first act is very slow moving, bogged down with long stretches of monologue. Dale's arrival, and his sharp, subtle humor, is a welcome addition in the second act, though it meanders on with multiple false endings to bring the complete run time to two and a half hours.

Ultimately it is a story of how someone can be in prison, even if he or she is free. The 17-year-old black girl's plight as well as a young black woman and her baby who haunt Elsa are reminders of the oppression that permeated 1974 Sounth Africa. Costumes are by Susan Hilferty and John Gromada provides original music and sound design.

The Road to Mecca runs through March 4 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd St., NYC. For tickets, call 212-719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- God's name taken in vain.

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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2022 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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