The first time I saw Kenneth Lonergan’s memory play “The Waverly Gallery” in 2005, I barely made it out of the theater to my car before breaking down in sobs.
The heartwrenching yet funny 2000 play is about Gladys Green, a loquacious, generous and free-spirited Greenwich Village art gallery owner in her mid-80s, who’s in a losing battle with Alzheimer’s disease (or dementia-related memory loss).
Back in 2005, my own mother was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and Lonergan’s well-researched script precisely depicted the stages of disease I had seen for myself — repeating stories, loss of short-term memory, denial, anger and defensiveness, paranoia, rage and a slow descent into silence.
That well-staged 2005 production was co-directed by Francis Gercke at New Village Arts in Carlsbad. Now, Gercke has solo directed a beautiful and truthful new production for his company, Backyard Renaissance Theatre, at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in East Village.
At Saturday’s opening-night performance, I wondered how the play would affect me this time, since my mother passed away many years ago. In fact, I felt like I was seeing a new play.
In 2005, I could only focus on Gladys and her suffering. Twenty years later, I see how much Lonergan opened up the story to show the toll that Alzheimer’s takes on Gladys’s loved ones, who are doing their best to support her, but are also helpless and heartbroken.
A scene from Backyard Renaissance Theatre’s “The Waverly Gallery,” featuring, left to right, Alexander Ameen, Katie MacNichol, Tom Zohar and Deborah Gilmour Smyth. (Michael Makie)
Deborah Gilmour Smyth leads the Backyard cast as Gladys with an incredible, tour de force performance that begins with joy, laughter and vivaciousness and gradually, over the course of two hours, moves toward frightened, childlike and submissive. Katie MacNichol also gives an exceptional and razor-edged performance as Ellen, Gladys’ estranged adult daughter, who resents the expectation that she should be responsible for her mom.
Tom Zohar stars as Daniel, the doting grandson and next-door neighbor of Gladys, who narrates the story to the audience as a memory tale. Zohar’s Daniel is soft-spoken and unemotional in retrospect, but in the scenes from his past, he’s hurt, shattered and exhausted by his grandmother’s disappearing memory, growing neediness and paranoia.
Providing much-welcomed comic relief is William Huffaker, who’s goofy and unpredictable as Don, a not-too-bright painter from New England who takes up residence in Gladys’ gallery and becomes her gentle, unjudgmental friend. Alexander Ameen plays Ellen’s kind but disconnected husband, Howard, who thinks shouting his words at Gladys will help her understand.
Duane McGregor’s realistic and three-dimensional scenic design depicts the well-decorated Waverly Gallery and Ellen and Howard’s dining room. Jessica John Gercke designed costumes, Curtis Mueller designed lighting, Logan Kirkendall designed sound and Evan Hart Marsh composed original music.
“The Waverly Gallery” isn’t an easy play to watch if you’re losing a family member to Alzheimer’s. But despite its dark moments, the play reveals the good in every character. They all rise to the occasion and they give back to Gladys in her time of need.
Backyard Renaissance Theatre presents ‘The Waverly Gallery’
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Through Dec. 6
Where: Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $15-$50
Phone: 760-975-7189
Online: backyardrenaissance.com