The Color of Rose
Rose Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1890 to a prominent Irish Catholic family. Her father served two terms as Mayor of Boston and also served a full term and eight months in the United States House of Representatives. Needless to say, she came from the proper stock that would interest Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., also an Irish Catholic, who courted Rose for seven years before they were married in 1914.
The Color of Rose, written and directed by Katherine Bates, relates the life of this steadfast woman who lived 104 years, and not always under the best of circumstances. In an unusual technique, Rose is performed with three women on stage, Shelby Kocee as Young Rose, Lia Sargent as Middle Rose and Gloria Strook as Older Rose, all three bringing Rose Kennedy to life in different phases of her years., not in monologues but interacting with one another.
The setting is in a lavishly decorated hotel room (Jeff Rack) where Older Rose is waiting to be interviewed. She is reminiscing about the past, considering how she will respond to her interviewer, how much she will truthfully reveal. As she looks back at her life, the Young Rose and the Middle Rose respond to the incidents that took place in their times, aiding her in what she should or should not expose.
Rose Fitzgerald's marriage to Joe Kennedy was a happy time, but her life was not to remain so. Joe was a controlling husband, a womanizer, and an unethical business man who also drank far too much. It is difficult to imagine a woman staying with such a man, but in the days of old, Irish Catholic woman remained loyal to their husbands and did not divorce. Therefore, she had to remain with the man she chose to marry. Since she and Joe had nine children, she was content to focus her life on the accomplishments of her family, remaining stoic even as she knew of all of his affairs. He was a good provider and , as Rose said, she was able to have fine clothes and jewelry and meet some of the most important people in the world.
Rose Kennedy faced dire family tragedies in her lifetime, and upon her death in 1995, had outlived five of her nine children.
Katherine Bates has presented Rose Kennedy's life in an excellent and well-written drama. All three actresses, under her direction, do outstanding justice to her work.
The Color of Rose is premiering at Theatre 40 at the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills. It plays Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 PM, through December 21st, with one matinee on Sunday, December 11th, at 2 PM. For reservations call (310) 264-3606 or go online at www.theatre40.org.
Recommended.