A Walk in the Woods
Shakespeare & Company in Lenox
Written by Lee Blessing, directed by James Warwick
“The world’s great powers—the world’s great fools.”
Lee Blessing’s 1988 play, “A Walk in the Woods” dealt with a topic of great concern to Americans at that time—negotiating a peace treaty over nuclear weapons with the Soviet Union. Seeing it today is a lesson in real politics. The topic is still current. The repercussions of failure are still grim and possibly deadly. We are engaged in observing a war that constantly brings the issue forward. We live with the reality this play explores in depth. The play, by the way, is a comedy.
James Warwick has been given two of Shakespeare & Company’s finest actors to play the two roles, a Russian negotiator (Jonathan Epstein) and an American negotiator (Allyn Burrows) who spend a year working on an agreement that hasn’t been signed. For the Russian, Andrey Botvinnik, it is an opportunity to make a new friend. For the American, John Honeyman, it is just the opposite, a chance to save the world without issues becoming personal. The play is about them, rather than about the work, the issue at hand, nuclear disarmament and control. Bombs explode, but not the ones you expect.
The biggest bomb is the one of human magic—that certain magic of forging a relationship. Andrey has expectations of the new American negotiator, the third he has worked with, or against, in forging this agreement. He has persuaded Honeyman to meet him in a nearby forest for an informal walk, meant in part to confuse the ever-present press corps, and in part to give the two men a chance to talk about themselves, other things than their work, to become “friends.” Honeyman objects to the concept of friendship between them, finding it a conflict and not at all of interest. He sees the walk as a waste of time, but had agreed to the concept, for the moment. What grows between the men as a result of this experience is what the play concentrates on for most of its two hours. The woods, and its hidden bench, become a separate world where the men can discuss anything, though they keep to the task at hand, and personal stuff that makes Honeyman very rude and very uncomfortable.
Burrows is wonderful in this role. He has always been a good actor, reliable and often surprising. Here his official job with Shakespeare & Company may have brought some experience to the role. As the company’s chief administrator he has had to develop a manner for dealing with so many internal and external elements that some of the inside look at a federal official given the position of negotiator on the most serious, crucial issues may reflect Burrows own work for this company. He is serious, clipped, precise, and concerned with his work, not his friendships. This is a very good part for Burrows to play and he plays it to perfection.
Epstein, who has been acting and teaching for many years, embarks on Andrey’s journey in this play with the charm and grace of a teacher who wants his student to learn new ways of living, new ways of working. More than half the laughs in the play belong to him and he delivers those lines with the same level of sincerity as he does his more political ones. His Andrey is a man who can move a mountain if he wished, but he doesn’t wish it. He is the perfect opposite of Burrow’s Honeyman. We see throughout the play what a mismatch these two men are and yet we hope for some sort of happy resolution between then.
Director James Warwick has done a lovely job of keeping these men’s hands on one another’s throats without them ever touching or even coming close enough to see the colors of each other’s eyes. He has physically created a courtship with no resolution until Andrey fills Honeyman in on his future plans at which time all hell breaks loose between them. The director here has clearly set Burrows loose and kept Epstein controlled. It all works wonderfully, even if the agreement is in jeopardy yet again.
Physically, the production is swell. Set in the Roman Garden Theatre, Devon Drohan’s clever set never seems out of place. Christina Beam’s costumes fit the two men as they should, Honeyman’s formality and Andrey’s more whimsical attire giving us the right impressions of who these men are. Arshan Gailus has created some unique sounds for the show, and both men know how to project their voices which keeps the show natural and authentic.
Warwick, Epstein, and Burrows make a combination to justify sitting outdoors in 84 degree weather with the sun boring into you (Wear a hat!). The play is engaging and amusing while sparking our intelligence comparing 1988 and 2022. Nothing ever changes, it is said. Well, certainly not with these two characters taking the diplomatic lead.
“A Walk in the Woods” plays in the Roman Garden Theatre at Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA through September 4. For tickets and information call 413-637-3353 or go to their website.
