According to New York theater writer Don Shewey, the critics always treated Harry Kondoleon like a playwright who had yet to achieve his potential. Writing in The New York Times June 20,1984, Frank Rich said, “[He] is rapidly becoming one of the more frustrating paradoxes of the New York theater.”
Theatregoers will never know what Kondoleon’s potential was ” he died of AIDS complications in 1994, just before the whiz-bang life-prolonging cocktails hove into sight. Over his too-brief life, he wrote 17 plays, two novels and a book of poetry.
If the Old Globe’s production of Kondoleon’s “Christmas on Mars” is any evidence, the playwright had a unique sensibility and a propensity for exploring human quirkiness that is painfully funny. One sits in the dark waiting for some semblance of sanity to emerge, then at length relaxes into the experience, which concerns a young man and woman who may or may not love one another and two other people who need them desperately. It is co-dependency personified and hysterified. Truth is nowhere. The odd thing is that one grows to love these characters so much that a lingering feeling of loneliness pervades the ensuing days of reality.
The acting could not be better and neither could Kirsten Brandt’s direction. The play is set in an empty Manhattan (one assumes) apartment that never gets furnished ” one presumes because it is so full of the angst of damaged psyches ” even over the course of the play’s span from July to December. The hardwood floor bears dirt stains that surrounded pieces that once were there.
Bruno (David Furr) and Audrey (Sarah Grace Wilson) arrive to look at the apartment. He has already decided this is where they will live, and by the way he’s asked Audrey’s estranged mother Ingrid (Colette Kilroy) to sign the lease, for which Bruno and Audrey cannot qualify. Ingrid arrives on the heels of Bruno’s roommate Nissim (Jack Ferver). The two men have lived together since graduating college ten years before.
Far be it from me to spoil the delectable zaniness and poignancy of ensuing events. The production is an excellent example of Globe resident artistic director Jerry Patch’s dedication to giving worthy plays worthy productions. Think Nicky Silver’s “Pterodactyls” or Christopher Durang’s “Beyond Therapy” and then pump it up a bit. Playgoers who are able to go with the experience are in for an unforgettable, unparalleled treat.
Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes are a hoot. Brandt’s other artistic colleagues are scenic designer Nick Fouch and lighting designer David Lee Cuthbert.
“Christmas on Mars” continues in the Cassius Carter Centre Stage through July 9. Tickets and information: visit www.theoldglobe.org or call (619) 23-GLOBE.
