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Golda's Balcony
By William Gibson
Featuring Janet Ulrich Brooks
Directed by Alex Levy
Pegasus Players
At O'Rourke Center for the Performing Arts
Truman College
1145 W. Wilson
May 1-June 15
Thursdays through Saturdays 8 p.m.
Sundays 3 p.m.
$17-$25
(773) 876-9761
www.pegasusplayers.org
Running time is 90 minutes without intermission
Through June 15, 2008
A life worth living--and dramatizimg
What Pegasus Players has lost in seating (about 60 places) it gains in an intimacy especially effective for their staging of Golda's Balcony. By removing rows A and B in the theater, and repositioning chairs along the sides of the new thrust stage, and also by creating a moat-like trench between audience and stage, the effect achieved is as if the audience were eye level with a high-rise apartment, able to peak into Golda's shabby, narrow kitchen with its front balcony and share her life there.
Janet Ulrich Brooks, following in the illustrious steps of more famous actors Anne Bancroft, Tova Feldshuh, and Valerie Harper, does a solid job with this biography, detailing Golda Meir's life from Milwaukee to Jerusalem and from housewife to prime minister with all the significant stops in between. The personal tale is sometimes more interesting than the national one -- as we learn just how much her public duties impacted (negatively) on her role as wife and mother. So very much historical material is presented (over 100 years), however, that it is sometimes a relief to turn away from it.
While there are pertinent lines -- "More life for all means more for death for some" -- and some occasional humor, there are also tedious moments in the script that even talented Brooks cannot overcome.
Focus centers on the 1973 Yom Kippur War, with suspense maintained by Golda's promise to reveal a secret. An agreement reached by her cabinet at that time is not told to the audience until near the play's end, providing a surprise -- even a shocker -- to those who don't know history. 
One-actor shows are difficult-- especially when dealing with only one character. Brooks attempts (and achieves) variety by changing garb and activities. She starts (and ends) wearing a bathrobe, but between times moves from casual blouse and skirt to more formal attire where she dons a suit jacket. She moves in and out of kitchen and balcony, going from sink to stove, to table; making tea, pouring and drinking it; then changes pace as she answers significant telephone calls. Kudos to director Alex Levy, scenic designer Tom Burch, and -- most especially -- lighting designer Denise Karczewski for their contributions in focusing action and holding audience attention.
The drama reaches the intellect more than the heart, and audience reaction
was split at play's end, with about half the house rising for a standing
ovation. Golda's Balcony has been more successful on the stage than on
film. The 2003 Broadway depiction ran 493 performances and garnered a Tony
Award for Feldshuh; the 2006 Harper movie version bombed.
While the new theater configuration at Pegasus is perfect for this regional premiere, Production Manager Marcus Petrella says that the company is currently debating whether or not to keep it this way. It certainly was a plus this time.
Recommended
Beverly Friend
friend@oakton.edu for comments
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2008
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