A play that explores an aging composer’s obsession with a trifling waltz? Moises Kaufman must be nuts!
Once again at La Jolla Playhouse Kaufman proves his sanity and his brilliance with the West Coast premiere of his most recent work, “33 Variations,” a mesmerizing study of Ludwig van Beethoven during his late compositional career. The composer, who became totally deaf during this period and suffered ill health as well, was also writing the “Missa Solemnis” and the Ninth (“Choral”) Symphony.
Initially repulsed when offered the commission, Beethoven eventually took on music publisher Anton Diabelli’s challenge to write a variation on a simple waltz of the publisher’s own devising. He wrote not one but 33 variations between 1819 and 1823, exclaiming with each one, “There is still more here.”
As Kaufman’s play begins, Beethoven”brilliantly played by the leonine Zach Grenier ” says, “Let us begin with the primary cause of things.” Thus, the play’s initial metaphor sets up all that ensues.
The exploration of cause intertwines quests for answers on the part of two hard-put, tenacious people: Beethoven and a present-day musicologist. Separated by nearly 200 years, they find unexpected profundity in what appears mundane and inescapable.
The other protagonist is New York musicologist Katherine Brandt, who becomes fascinated with what she sees as Beethoven’s mysterious obsession with writing variations on Diabelli’s seemingly inconsequential theme. The widowed Katherine, who has a troubled relationship with her creative, will o’ the wisp adult daughter Clara (Laura Odeh), has just been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Katherine’s new nurse Mike (Ryan Kind) calls the fatal malady an “orphan disease,” so rare that little research has been done, no cure or amelioration discovered.
Despite Clara’s protests, Katherine sets off for Beethoven’s native Bonn, the repository of his sketches and scores. She is determined to complete her research and write her scholarly Beethoven treatise prior to the eventual incapacitation caused by the progressive disease. At the archive, she meets the initially brusque and businesslike Dr. Gertie Ladenburger (Susan Kellermann), who becomes a friend and caretaker of sorts as Katherine is led through the Bonn materials to unexpected insight.
The Beethoven era is peopled by the composer (who will ever think of Beethoven in quite the same way again?), his devoted secretary Anton Schindler (Eric Steele) and Diabelli (Don Amendolia). The present and the past commingle in the same space, an ingenious invention of scenic designer Derek McLane that comprises archival stacks of Beethoven’s oeuvre and life, some boxed, some not. The eras, which sometimes come dangerously close to colliding, are differentiated by Janice Pytel’s costumes and Charles LaPointe’s wigs. All is lighted by David Lander and further illuminated by Jeff Sugg’s projection design. Andre Pluess provides the excellent sound design.
Never has the reputedly irascible composer been so human. As for the actors, it is impossible to imagine more specific and extraordinary casting. Musical illumination is provided by concert pianist Diane Walsh, who plays portions of the variations as they are written. The projected scribbling of Beethoven’s score as he composes it provides further insight into the man, who wrote in pencil, then overlaid what he liked in ink. Occasionally, Walsh plays the penciled portions that the concertgoer never hears.
One might expect the process and the play to be pedantic and esoteric. This thoroughly engrossing work is neither. None of the play’s surprises will be revealed in this review; however, suffice it to say that classical music lovers and others, no matter how deep their acquaintance with Beethoven, will be fascinated and touched by Kaufman’s play, which may be his best thus far. That says a lot, considering the playwright/director’s other works include “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” and “The Laramie Project.” Among many others, he directed the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning “I Am My Own Wife.” “33 Variations,” which premiered at Arena Stage in 2007, recently received the 2008 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Award.
“33 Variations” continues through May 4 at La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays; matinees at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For tickets ($29-$62) and info, visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org or call (858) 550-1010.
