Forty years after it was first produced and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” is more pertinent than ever in addressing a basic dysfunction underlying American culture – the relentless replacement of humanistic values with those derived from the marketplace.
Even Albee’s style, which at the time seemed a departure from realism, fits more comfortably today, where relativity has become part of our worldview.
Yet in Germinal Stage Denver’s production, directed by Ed Baierlein, the playwright’s wit and sense of irony are nothing if not magnified by this seemingly familiar approach.
In a well-appointed living room, we’re introduced to an erudite family that nourishes itself on combative repartee fueled by economic independence, leisure time and alcohol.
As Claire, Deborah Persoff wields the fiery tongue that ignites this combustible mix, relishing her flame-throwing jousts with sister Agnes. In a silk robe accented by the Asian décor of her front hallway, Agnes (Erica Sarzin-Borrillo) – dragon-lady and matriarch – is a match for Claire made in theater heaven.
Mediating these ongoing pyrotechnics is Agnes’ husband, Tobias, who wisely keeps his words few and considered. Pipe-smoking, anisette-sipping Baierlein measures Tobias’ pleasures with masterful timing, reaching his zenith in the well-lubricated third act, when it falls on him to make “the decision.”
Friends of Tobias and Agnes for 40 years, Harry and Edna put that relationship to the test. Soft-spoken and deliberate, Harry (Michael Leopard) is a natural confidant of the circumspect Tobias.
As was the fashion, Edna lets Harry make the decisions, but she is perfectly capable of a stinging rebuke à la Claire. Maintaining an equanimity that belies her fierce calculations, Edna (Margaret Amateis Casart) shows herself to be Albee’s ace in the hole – and not a moment too soon, as she stands alone against Julia, Tobias and Agnes’ daughter.
On the ropes from her fourth marriage, Julia shows up and quickly slips into her familial niche as the petulant child. Fluent in, and impatient with, the studied worldliness cultivated by her family, Katharyn Grant’s Julia ferociously defends her birthright, in doing so calling into question the values by which she was raised.
As the argument comes to a head, we see that Albee has cleverly withheld key information until we have committed ourselves otherwise, forcing us to question our own assumptions about what is truly valuable. Then, after gut-wrenching deliberations, Tobias’ decision and the denouement bring us to recognize what a delicate balance this life is.
Bob Bows reviews theater for KUVO/89.3 FM, at Colorado Drama.com and for Variety. He can be reached at BBows@ColoradoDrama.com.
*** 1/2 | “A Delicate Balance”
DRAMA|Germinal Stage Denver, 2450 W. 44th Ave.|Written by Edward Albee|Directed by Ed Baierlein|Starring Erica Sarzin-Borrillo, Ed Baierlein, Deborah Persoff, Margaret Amateis Casart, Michael Leopard, and Katharyn Grant|THROUGH MARCH 5|8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m., Sundays| 2 hours, 30 minutes|$14.75-$18.75|303-455-7108
