Awake And Sing
One cannot think of great American playwrights without calling to mind Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Clifford Odets. As one of the giants of the American theatre, Odets helped usher in a new form of drama about real people in real-life situations. Odets had an incredible understanding of people, and the ability to make them lovable in spite of their flaws. The characters in Awake and Sing are multifaceted and unpredictable. With extraordinary insight this playwright depicts the struggle between ideologies and realities, hard facts and exuberant feelings; he writes about people’s ability to aspire to the good and idealistic, as well as rage against suffering in their yearning for a more just society.
Written in the heart of the Great Depression, and first presented in 1935, Awake and Sing shows the lives of three generations of the middle class Berger family trying very hard to sustain themselves in a cramped Bronx apartment. Matriarch, Bessie Berger (Deborah Strang) iron-fistedly oversees her leftist leaning father Jocob (Les Lesser), attempt to influence the romantic yearnings of her son Ralph (Adam Silver), and to conclude the match of her pregnant daughter Hennie (Molly Leland) to unsuspecting greenhorn Sam Feinschreiber (David Lengel). But the individuality of the Berger family prevails: each finds a unique way of dealing with his or her dreams; in Odets own words, “All of the characters in Awake and Sing share a fundamental activity: a struggle for life amidst petty conditions.”
With such a great play, and such a reputable company as Noise Within, which hosts experienced and adept actors, one expects a lot. Although a respectable rendition (and I recommend seeing it, especially to familiarize yourself with this play), in my opinion this production is not inspired. It is as if there was a conscious attempt to avoid deep emotions, fearing perhaps that they would appear indulgent or histrionic. Consequently, a rather cold, external story is achieved. The responsibility for this I put in the hands of the director, Andrew J. Traister. I believe he could have fine tuned the actors, reduced the intermissions to one, aged the set, and not allowed the actors to take the attitude that since the play is so well written, they need only say their lines and do little more.
The cast is competent. As an ensemble they work very well together. Alan Blumenfeld is flawless as Bessie’s big shot brother. David Lengel, as the deceived, green horn immigrant husband, is believable and quite sympathetic. Molly Leland is perfectly cast as Hennie Berger. Joel Swetow it’s the right note as Myron Berger, Bessie’s insignificant husband, and Alan Waserman who plays Schlosser, the super, with few words, shows more emotion than all the others on stage.
In my opinion, however, the major characters, although proficient, fall short in their most decisive moments. When his beloved Caruso records are smashed, the moment Jacob slips toward his monumental decision, which is the turning point of the play, I desperately wanted to see some internal fight within him; some heart felt struggle, or dismal despair. I did not. Earlier in the play he warns Bessie that one day she will go too far. Is this not that moment? I understand that Jacob must conceal his reactions from his family, but not from the audience. Where is the humiliation, the stab to the core of his heart and soul; the realization, coupled possibly with exhilaration that the moment to act is here? He hid his feelings far too well, I’m afraid.
Bessie’s climactic speech in which she reveals why she is as she is and tells of her own sacrifices for the family, somehow does not come from her inner core, and so, consequently, does not touch ours. I also felt she was working to achieve the inner strength necessary to dominate those around her, rather than just naturally being the boss. Perhaps greater heat between Moe and Hennie throughout the play would have made their final coming together more poignant. I must remark, however, that Daniel Reichert’s reaction to Jacob’s demise was extraordinarily well-acted, clearly defining his future course of action.
I have a problem with the very ending of the play. Adam Silver is simple enough in the delivery of Ralph’s closing lines, but I wonder if certain nuances are implied in the writing that could be further explored. It is never really clear to me why his girl hangs up the phone on him. Is it because, with his new-found inheritance and his newly acquired room, he still does not go to her house, grab her, and take her home with him? Instead he replies to her leaving with, “I don’t know what to say.” That’s when she hangs up. When he takes over his grandfather’s room, finding the uncut books, does this not insinuate to some degree that he may very well become, as his grandfather, a talker and dreamer who accomplishes very little in actual life, continuing to sustain Bessie? Unlike Moe, he does not take what he wants; he has a softer nature, but perhaps one less able to survive or be effective. I wonder if the actor playing Ralph or the director ever gave thought to these possibilities or attempted to read between the lines. Of course, I may be wrong in my speculations, and the final speech may just be a rallying cry for political activism as Ralph proclaims his intentions of staying right where he is and fighting for the betterment of his fellow workers.
All in all the production at Noise Within is good, but I wanted more. I would have been grateful if the director had put a little heat and soul in the song of Awake and Sing.
A Noise Within March 6-May 21
(818) 240-0910
234 South Brand Blvd, Glendale, Ca. 91204
$44 (Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees)
$40 (Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings, Saturday matinees)