For their final offering at Peabody House, before going on hiatus, Somerville's nine-year old Theatre Cooperative is presenting the world-premiere of "Manifest/Destiny" by Vladimir Zelevinsky, their playwright-in-residence. This show, developed over the last two years, is a departure from his past three shows, which featured large cast and exotic situations. Featuring four actors, Robert Doris, Linda Goetz, Korinne Hertz, & John McClain playing forty or so different characters from 1492 to the present and set in Europe, on the Atlantic, and across the United States, the show traces immigration to this country, concentrating on the Irish and Jewish experience, with New York as the most significant port of entry. The fist half, "Manifest" is focused around the Atlantic crossing, with steerage passengers on a leaky steamer, recounting tales of their previous lives, exploring their hopes for coming to America, and dredge up tales of their ancestors arriving as mere numbers on a manifest.
To complete the huge task of examining these roots for new Americans, the second part "Destiny" recounts the further travels of emigres across the country from the East Coast to the West. It is necessarily more diffuse, with less focus that the first, which can indeed stand on its own. What focus it has is on travelers to the far West by wagon train, a saga in itself. There are a few reminders of ethnic backgrounds and continuing tension, particularly for the Irish, but a universal desire for land of one's own takes over. And at the end, the conclusion seems a bit bland. A final moment relating to current immigration questions would be much more in the spirit of the Theatre Cooperative's tradition of presenting shows with social concerns. More comparison between those who stayed in the East and struggled in urban environments and those who forged into the West, displacing Native American and mixing with Hispanic populations might be fruitful.
Like most world premieres done locally, this show is best seen as a final developmental step in creating a finished drama. Zelevinsky has previously created memorable situations and raised intriguing questions, but has often left his dramatic situations open-ended. While the final fate of the USA is indeed debatable, Some sort of "The West is Won" ending, taken from the recent historical record followed by a open-ended coda might be more effective. Artistic director Lesley Chapman, who's guided the Coop to new artistic heights in the last several seasons, gets fine performances throughout from her small ensemble. Korinne Hertz, who was compelling in Gilman's "Spinning into Butter" creatures several strong women, notably in the final vignette of the first half. Linda Goetz, with a variety of area credits, was seen last fall in Wertenbaker's "Our Country's Good" in gets her best moments opposite Hertz near the end of the second half. Robert Doris, who also has his share of credits, seen in Jane Martin's "Middle-Aged White Guys" at the Coop last season, plays several downtrodden men, and then ends up with a tall tale about cannibalism. John McClain has participated in a variety of productions at the Coop in various capacities, and here will be remembered as the wagonmaster in the second half.
The Theatre Coop, like several other companies now in hiatus, may reappear at other venues. Indeed, this script--with further development--could easily become a tourable vehicle, since it uses only a few movable benches or boxes and a minimum of props. In any case, we expect to the Theatre Coop back in the fray once their current debt is retired, though probably not with the ambitious scale of programming of recent years. They will be missed until then.