Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y.
Written by Stephen Sachs
Directed by Mark Perry
“Say it’s real… SAY IT!”
Truth and its inherent value is at the center of Stephen Sachs play “Bakersfield Mist,” now on stage at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y. Directed by Mark Perry, this two-character, one-act comedy-drama deals with the intriguing concept that an out-of-work, unknowledgeable junk collector has purchased a painting for $3 as a joke and she now believes it to be a lost Jackson Pollock masterpiece worth between $100 million and $300 million. She has persuaded a well-known art expert from New York City to fly to Bakersfield, Calif., to authenticate the work. Maude is a vulgar, hard-drinking floozie who pits her beliefs against gentlemanly Lionel’s opinion and historic career in the art world. Sachs surprises us with late revelations and keeps the arguments in the play alive and attractive for 90 minutes.
Luisa Strus. Photo by John Sowle.
On a fascinating set designed by the director, this couple play out their emotional conflict in as many ways as possible, including seduction and drunkenness. She likens her painting to Pollock’s “Lavender Mist” in style, but he resists the idea with clear descriptions of his opinion. Her clear need to have the work authenticated becomes a mystery when we discover that she has an offer, in the millions, for it from a genuine collector. Clearly she believes the painting is genuine, but what drives her is the need for that belief to be validated as truth, not merely accepted as conjecture. For all of her commonality, she wants professional assessment to support her conjecture about her Bakersfield Mist.
Luisa Strus is brilliantly vulgar as Maude. She is so believable in the role that I nearly forgot I was watching a play—her reality in this role is that remarkable. Every word and every action is plausible, and she leaves the sense of a real person on the stage making her case. It is rare for a performance to smack reality so hard in the face, but she manages it with ease.
As art expert Lionel, actor Conan McCarty maintains a certain professional color that tells us he is both a gentleman and a scholar who knows his business and who will not be taken advantage of in any way. When she decides to seduce him, probably in order to blackmail him for a positive professional opinion, he almost maintains his honest distance but nearly loses it for a moment. McCarty makes this funny and at the same time keeps it real and painful for Lionel.
Conan McCarty and Luisa Strus. Photo by John Sowle.
The two actors deliver a fine rendition of Sachs’ script under Perry’s direction, and even the collapse of a major portion of the set seems genuine and enhances the reality of the play. We do feel privileged to watch this play about truth and its earnest value.
John Sowle’s lighting design is subtle and realistic, while the costumes, provided by the actors, are very appropriate to the characters who wear them.
This is an unusual play. We come away from it almost convinced that the painting is a real one and that the plot of the play is genuine as well, rather than a play. This sensibility is rare and very enjoyable to experience, and I recommend theater-goers to take it in and react accordingly: Laugh when you feel you should, listen intently to the arguments, and decide for yourself what value truth has in this particular world of art and honesty. You may find yourself surprised at your own decisions.
“Bakersfield Mist” plays at Bridge Street Theatre, 44 W. Bridge Street, Catskill, NY, through April 25. For information and tickets, visit Bridge Street Theatre’s website.