Theater Review

Tom Titus

There is much red, rich theatrical meat to be ingested in David Hare’s

new play, “Amy’s View,” now on the main stage of South Coast Repertory,

but a good deal of it is buried under layers of conversational garnish.

Hare’s depiction of a notable British actress in the twilight of her

career and her loving but fractious relationship with her grown daughter

is given meticulously detailed treatment in the SCR production. Probably

a bit too meticulous and too detailed.

As directed with care and precision by Mark Rucker, “Amy’s View” is a

study in dysfunctional relationships of all varieties. It encompasses the

mundane as well as the memorable with virtually equal attention, leading

audiences to savor the occasional belly laugh that emerges from this

particularly wordy exercise.

The play covers a 16-year period in the later life of stage actress Esme

Allen -- played with magnificent fervor and insight by Linda Thorson --

and her deepening resentment of the man her daughter has chosen.

Esme considers herself an artist, and her contempt for the “arts hustler”

who, when the play begins, has just impregnated her daughter, Amy, is

thinly disguised.

This contempt runs both ways. The young man (Don Reilly) is equally

impatient with Esme’s older, theatrical generation, which he considers

obsolete. It’s left to Amy (Christina Haag), and her positive, loving

viewpoint that gives the play its title, to mediate between the two

people she loves most in the world.

Thorson enriches her proud, veteran actress role with bite and bearing,

acknowledging defeat with the same fierce self-awareness with which she

once claimed victory. She is commanding even when contributing little but

her attention to a scene in which Haag or Reilly is engaged in a

full-bore tirade.

Haag enacts the difficult assignment of the daughter with steely

diplomacy, desperate for her mother’s love yet determined to press on

with the choice she has made against Esme’s wishes. The superbly

delivered scenes between the two women are the heart and soul of the

play.

If this were a melodrama, Reilly would be booed and hissed for his

concentrated deconstruction of Esme’s art, so effective does this actor

embody the character. Redemption, of a form, arrives in the final scene,

which Reilly handles splendidly.

SCR veteran Richard Doyle lends staunch support as a neighbor who

cautiously loves Esme but proves instrumental in her ruin. Patricia

Fraser makes an indelible impression as her dotty old mother-in-law,

while Lars Carlson delivers a strong portrayal of a younger actor

enthralled with the legendary Esme.

Esme’s expansive London suburban home is beautifully created by scenic

designer James Youmans, and its transition in the final scene to a West

End theater dressing room, and eventually a stage, is highly effective.

The various stories that comprise “Amy’s View” are important and

contribute vitally to the play, yet their overall impact would be

heightened with some judicious pruning. Hare has about two hours’ worth

of drama here, and he insists on presenting it in two and a half.

Beyond this overstatement, however, there are some rich, compelling

moments that give “Amy’s View” its heartfelt emotional reality. And Linda

Thorson is nothing short of magnificent as its centerpiece.

CUTLINE: Linda Thorson, right, comforts her daughter, played by Christina

Haag, in “Amy’s View” on the main stage of South Coast Repertory.

CUTLINE: An attempted interview erupts into an argument in “Amy’s View”

at South Coast Repertory. From left are Linda Thorson, Don Reilly,

Richard Doyle and Christina Haag.

WHAT: “Amy’s View”

WHERE: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2:30

and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through May 14

HOW MUCH: $28 to $47

PHONE: (714) 708-5555