3-18-2010
“A Walk in the Woods”, Northern Stage Style
by Chuck and Sue Bingaman, Eagle Correspondents
Lee Blessing’s award-winning “A Walk in the Woods”, through April 3, offers a psychological tug-of-war between American and Russian worldviews as played out through arms negotiators meeting from time to time in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1980s.
But it might have been last week in terms of the issues and the difficulties each side has in understanding the other.
If you’re interested in foreign affairs or cross-cultural value conflict, or if you find your world illuminated by riveting writing and skilled acting, you’ll find “A Walk in the Woods” well-worth your evening.
The real “walk in the woods” that Blessing builds on took place in 1982 when American nuclear negotiator Paul Nitze and Russian negotiator Yuri Kvitsinsky tried to break a stalemate by having a private discussion outside the negotiating room and in the more relaxed surroundings of a deep Swiss wood. English director Nicolas Kent, whom Northern Stage was fortunate to entice to direct this production, took Blessing’s original script—with his blessing—and transformed it to enable the American negotiator to be a woman—more possible in 2010 than in the 1980s—and built it around several “walks” and the developing relationship of the negotiators those walks enabled.
Blessing’s script, as updated and bi-gendered, presents a broader canvas on which to paint the cultural, linguistic, male/female and age related conflicts that make international agreements so difficult to forge.
The American negotiator, Joan Honeyman (played by multi-talented Myriam Cyr) embodies the Yankee “can-do” attitude toward "finding common ground”, “”working things out” and viewing all problems as urgent opportunities to succeed. Surely, she thinks, her upfront approach is shared and appreciated by everyone. The Russian negotiator, Andrey Botvinnik (played by veteran English actor Steven Crossley) sees the negotiations as public relations ends in themselves, doubts that any meaningful agreements can or will ever be reached, and shrugs off any real possibility of bridging their differences. Whereas Honeyman’s “walk in the woods” is to find a better venue for dropping the masks and seeking negotiating progress, Botvinnik’s is to escape the futile, frustrating charade of formal talks and to seek so desperately needed “frivolity”. This mismatch of assumptions, values and outlooks fuels the entire script’s journey through four extended “walks”. At times tense, earnest, and witty, the script keeps its momentum both through skillful writing and through the actors’ skills.
Crossley plays Botvinnik with a sort of bemused, world-weary humor, the view of one who has seen the American approach over many years and many negotiators and cannot see the likelihood of meaningful arms treaties. He’s merely running out the clock and hoping to have a little amusement along the way. Crossley’s slight Russian accent and mannerisms are perfect, well short of caricature. He’s a pro who's a delight to watch!
Cyr’s role, re-written by Director Kent so a female can play what was originally a male arms negotiator, is a handful. She must, at once, seek parity with an older actor playing a diplomat with more experience, play the seemingly less sophisticated American idealist, and pull off the part of a youngish woman in a role traditionally played by gray-haired men. Plus, she is always at a disadvantage in her role because she must expose her true emotions while his whole game is to avoid showing his. It’s not easy trying to work with an opponent who cares little about authenticity!
Supporting Crossley and Cyr is a surprisingly minimalist set for all four scenes, in fact a suggestion of woods built of tree trunks and a multitude of overflowing storage boxes suggesting the forest of papers accumulated over decades of frustrating efforts at arms treaties. Not Northern Stage’s usual detailed and transporting effort. But it does focus one on the interplay between the two principals.
“A Walk in the Woods”, Northern Stage Style
by Chuck and Sue Bingaman, Eagle Correspondents
Lee Blessing’s award-winning “A Walk in the Woods”, through April 3, offers a psychological tug-of-war between American and Russian worldviews as played out through arms negotiators meeting from time to time in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1980s.
But it might have been last week in terms of the issues and the difficulties each side has in understanding the other.
If you’re interested in foreign affairs or cross-cultural value conflict, or if you find your world illuminated by riveting writing and skilled acting, you’ll find “A Walk in the Woods” well-worth your evening.
The real “walk in the woods” that Blessing builds on took place in 1982 when American nuclear negotiator Paul Nitze and Russian negotiator Yuri Kvitsinsky tried to break a stalemate by having a private discussion outside the negotiating room and in the more relaxed surroundings of a deep Swiss wood. English director Nicolas Kent, whom Northern Stage was fortunate to entice to direct this production, took Blessing’s original script—with his blessing—and transformed it to enable the American negotiator to be a woman—more possible in 2010 than in the 1980s—and built it around several “walks” and the developing relationship of the negotiators those walks enabled.
Blessing’s script, as updated and bi-gendered, presents a broader canvas on which to paint the cultural, linguistic, male/female and age related conflicts that make international agreements so difficult to forge.
The American negotiator, Joan Honeyman (played by multi-talented Myriam Cyr) embodies the Yankee “can-do” attitude toward "finding common ground”, “”working things out” and viewing all problems as urgent opportunities to succeed. Surely, she thinks, her upfront approach is shared and appreciated by everyone. The Russian negotiator, Andrey Botvinnik (played by veteran English actor Steven Crossley) sees the negotiations as public relations ends in themselves, doubts that any meaningful agreements can or will ever be reached, and shrugs off any real possibility of bridging their differences. Whereas Honeyman’s “walk in the woods” is to find a better venue for dropping the masks and seeking negotiating progress, Botvinnik’s is to escape the futile, frustrating charade of formal talks and to seek so desperately needed “frivolity”. This mismatch of assumptions, values and outlooks fuels the entire script’s journey through four extended “walks”. At times tense, earnest, and witty, the script keeps its momentum both through skillful writing and through the actors’ skills.
Crossley plays Botvinnik with a sort of bemused, world-weary humor, the view of one who has seen the American approach over many years and many negotiators and cannot see the likelihood of meaningful arms treaties. He’s merely running out the clock and hoping to have a little amusement along the way. Crossley’s slight Russian accent and mannerisms are perfect, well short of caricature. He’s a pro who's a delight to watch!
Cyr’s role, re-written by Director Kent so a female can play what was originally a male arms negotiator, is a handful. She must, at once, seek parity with an older actor playing a diplomat with more experience, play the seemingly less sophisticated American idealist, and pull off the part of a youngish woman in a role traditionally played by gray-haired men. Plus, she is always at a disadvantage in her role because she must expose her true emotions while his whole game is to avoid showing his. It’s not easy trying to work with an opponent who cares little about authenticity!
Supporting Crossley and Cyr is a surprisingly minimalist set for all four scenes, in fact a suggestion of woods built of tree trunks and a multitude of overflowing storage boxes suggesting the forest of papers accumulated over decades of frustrating efforts at arms treaties. Not Northern Stage’s usual detailed and transporting effort. But it does focus one on the interplay between the two principals.
“A Walk in he Woods” runs Saturday night at 7:30 with a post-show discussion session and Sunday at 5:00 p.m. with a 3:30 p.m. pre-show lecture on weapons negotiations. Additional performances are Tuesday through Saturday, March 23 through March 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, March 25, in a 2:00 p.m. matinee and Sunday, March 28, at 5:00 p.m. Also, Tuesday through Saturday, March 30 through April 3 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 4. Tickets are available at the Northern Stage web site at www.northernstage.org or by calling 802-296-7000.
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