Harbinger Theatre, Sand Lake Center of the Arts in Averill Park, N.Y.
Written by Bryna Turner, directed by Chris Foster
“Risk joy!”
Every play teaches a lesson. Here “At the Wedding” goes beyond that and teaches us, through comedy, many things about the human condition and the various choices we all take into consideration in our lives. In the play Carlo, whose lesbianism is at the core of her existence, crashes and in many small ways attempts to disrupt a wedding to which she was actually invited (but didn’t accept). The bride, Eva, Carlo’s lovely ex-girlfriend, is marrying a man. Carlo is played by Maghen Ryan-Adair, and she is practically never off stage. During her time at the event, Carlo confronts many other people, including the bride’s mother Maria, two other women named Carly and Leigh, and a man named Eli who hopes to propose marriage to his girlfriend during the reception, as well as a waiter/bartender named Victor. Traditionally, a comedy is a play in which nobody dies; in this play the only way to die is by laughing too hard and too long which, luckily, on opening night nobody did. Their laughter was too sustaining and reaffirming.
Eva, in a stunning gown designed by Lisa Morgan, whose costumes were all perfect, was played by Alexia Halsey, who was beautiful to behold and equally beautiful a character to listen to as she explained and over-explained her motives and her choices. Neither the playwright nor Halsey gave us a reason why a previously self-identified gay woman is now marrying a man; instead we had a woman whose strength lay in her devotion to her own happiness over everything else. It is a lovely and realistic performance.
As Maria, her mother, dressed in gold and glorious in it, Amy Hausknecht delivers nicely as the woman’s alcoholism takes over her nightlife. The actress makes it clear that there is no actual judgement in her choices but rather a sense of very personal need at extreme moments in life. Hausknecht is as funny in her intentions as Halsey is warm in hers. Her dialogue with Carlo, her daughter’s former lover, has all the piquancy we would expect, and she pulls it off very well. Sadly, Maria has only one scene.
Carlo’s encounters with two other women at the wedding include Leigh, the woman Eli hopes to marry, whose sexual identity remains ambiguous, and Carla, whom Carlo finds very attractive. In the many scenes they share, Carlo pushes her agenda, even debating stealing a wedding gift to get some personal satisfaction. Jennifer Schnurr played Carly, and Rachel Stewart played Leigh. Both women did fine jobs with their very different characters.
Victor, the wedding bartender, handles his role well, and his snide looks and attitudes were extremely pertinent to his moments on stage. Adam Sauter did a nice job playing this unfortunate man. On the other hand, Eli, the impossible-to-discourage-or-bring-down young swain, was played delightfully by Ben Amey, whose good-natured delivery never failed to please.
But the star of this show was undoubtedly Maghen Ryan-Adair as Carlo. In her blue velour suit, she moved from scene to scene almost uninterrupted. She played almost every conceivable emotion and motivation. She seemed never to tire, like someone on mucho alcohol or drugs, and her motivations remained clear and untrammeled. She played a believable character we might never want to meet, but if we did, she would be the subject of cocktail chatter for weeks afterward. Hearing Ryan-Adair speak in the talk-back after the show, it was clear that Carlo was a character and not the actress. A job truly well done!
The set, designed by Chuck Kutik, worked well in its simplicity, and the lighting design by David S. Caso illuminated what we were meant to see. Foster’s direction gave us seven well-grounded characters in multiple relationships with one another and everything was clear, clean, and effective.
“At the Wedding” plays at the Sand Lake Center, 2880 Route 43, Averill Park, N.Y., through June 15. For information and tickets, the Sand Lake Center’s website.
