Combining realistic domestic drama and expressionist elements from the troubled imagination of the main character is a risky playwrighting strategy at best. This is especially true when potent symbols are involved, particularly when these are religious. The surrealism intended becomes confused. Lyralen Kaye's heartfelt effort, "They Named Us Mary", revived after it's 2004 premiere once again has the author playing the lead. She's Mary Clare. Her younger sisters, in descending order, are Mary Margaret (Angela Gunn), Mary Theresa (Christina Wolfskehl), Mary Grace (Emily Evans) and Mary Anne (Bertie Payne-Strange). Their mother, Maria, is played by Diane DeCoste; their recently deceased father, Patrick, is Steve Falcone, who also plays a nameless priest and a neighborhood lawyer who prepared Patrick's will in a local bar. Father was a drunk. The setting, which is not that important; the time is the 1980's, which is barely established.
The tone of the play is set by Mary Clare's opening monologue while the audience watches a religious class given by a nun assemble. The nun turns out to be mother Maria, the class is her daughters, and its structure resembles a 12 step program. However, neither the staging nor the acting is sufficient to capture the audience, and this two act play is not off to a great start. There's also a coffin on wheels with a kneeling bench. The latter is a ubiquitous part of every subsequent scene, a symbol which is used but not explored. The majority of the scenes are repetitious domestic squabbles which reveal the family's secrets, large and small, without advancing the action. Part of the difficulty is that the play is chronological while its drama is more concerned with the past than the present. There's probably enough material for an effective forty to fifty minute one-act stretched over about two hours of theatre time--including intermission. The individual sisters need to be developed beyond their stereotypes, which this cast somewhat overplay. Margaret, the party girl, is particularly dubious, while 'Resa, the rebel, has only a sullen surface. Grace, the good girl, needs to some depth, while Anne, the kid--who was often hard to understand--could be more interesting. Clare's recovered alcoholic has occasional poetic moments, but her frustration becomes tiresome. Moreover, there aren't any apparent family traits for this collection of damaged children, expect their justified fear of their parents.
Expressionist drama, stretching back to Strindberg or Buchner has always tried to push the boundaries of conventional drama of its time. Today's stage tradition is so fragmented, and reflects not only the live theatre but film and television as well. When everything is possible, it's hard to be innovative. Or to use other's innovations well. Director Courtney O'Connor has tried to create an arc to what is essentially a melodramatic domestic drama but the action plods almost to the last scene. Production values are minimal and fussy scene changes slow the progress of the play. Kaye would do better to reconceive her story for a unit set with shorter scenes arranged dramatically. The project seems head toward becoming an independent film. The current script might actually work better on screen. A sense of time and place would be easier to achieve, though including specific references in the dialogue would help in either case. Having started on the idea of "They Named Us Mary" in 1988, the author will no doubt continue to develop this project. The serious social concerns it explores continue to haunt American society, but the current state of her script is probably a dead end.
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