THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9603010055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
THE ``BIG C'' factor in the difficult-to-categorize play ``Marvin's Room'' is double-pronged, and seemingly incompatible - Comedy and Cancer.
This ``comedy,'' written by Scott McPherson when he was dying, is fairly dripping with bitterness. The medical profession is represented by a doctor who is so callous that he forgets the names of his patients and a hypocritical psychiatrist who carries a concealed ash tray, all the while deriding smoking.
In this atmosphere, we are introduced to a family that is so dysfunctional that they seem beyond redemption.
And yet . . .
And yet there are laughs everywhere. Some are even big laughs.
``Marvin's Room'' is the current eccentric play that finds a perfect home in Hampton Road's most eccentric theater, The Generic Theater. ``Marvin's Room'' is surely not for everyone, but ultimately it lets us know that it is best to bend, not break, under the pressure of all the craziness around us.
Betty Xander's direction serves up just the right touch of the absurd to get us through all the trauma. The present treatment, which is on view through March 17, suggests that since we're all in the same boat we might as well keep paddling - and laugh about it.
The production is sparked by a loving and honest performance from Carol Chittum as Bessie, a woman who has given up her own life to care for her father, the elderly Marvin, who has been dying for over 20 years. It's typical of this hellish play that it has her say things like ``Daddy's dying slowly, so I won't miss anything.''
Chittum brings a cheerful resonance to Bessie even when the character learns that she has leukemia and has to go through chemotherapy. The sight of Bessie quickly retrieving her wig to hide her bald head is a heart-wrenching suggestion that this woman is willing to suffer alone, and not inflict her misfortunes on others.
Thanks to Chittum's constant vigil, the character never becomes either precious or cloying.
Her burden, though, is plentiful. A slatternly sister, Lee, played with sufficient verve by Tara Lynn Stewart, visits to offer to test for a bone marrow transplant that may save her life. Through the years, Lee has shown no particular caring for either her sister or father.
Lee's two sons are consummate problems. Steve Cosgrove brings a lumpy, awkward tenderness to Hank, the older son, who is in a mental asylum. Given the way mom treats him, you can see why he rebelled. The younger son, Charlie, is a comedic presence represented by Will Cervarich in something resembling a combination Shirley Temple and fright wig.
Also in Bessie's charge is her dotty Aunt Ruth (Marienne Carlucci), who suffers from a collapsed vertebrae.
Richard May is the ditzy doctor and Sylvia Dooling is the prissy, by-the-book psychiatrist.
``Marvin's Room'' uses multi-level staging which provides steady, but not fast, pacing. The somewhat tawdry sparseness of the sets is more a result of limited budgeting than a lack of imagination.
Your tolerance for ``Marvin's Room'' may well depend on what you bring from your own life into the theater. This is not cajoling, mindless puff for those who seek an easy ride. Anyone who has had, or has, a loved one who is fighting cancer will find it a rough go. When I first saw it, over a decade ago in an off-Broadway theater, I found it overbearingly bitter and cruel and a bit smart-alecky. Today, with the passage of time, I can see the humor.
A film version of ``Marvin's Room'' is now before the cameras, with a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Verdon and Hume Cronyn.
``Marvin's Room'' is a place where the world is seen through a glass darkly - but with a light at the end of the tunnel. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Marvin's Room''
Who: Carol Chittum, Tara Lynn Stewart, Marienne Carlucci, Steve
Cosgrove, Will Cervaric, Richard May, Sylvia Dooling, Dan Stosek.
Directed by Betty Xander.
Where: The Generic Theater in Norfolk
When: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2
p.m. through March 17
Tickets: $8 on Thursdays and Sundays, $10 on Fridays and
Saturdays
Call: 441-2160
by CNB