Your Theatre stages touching family drama
By Lorraine Lucciola, Standard-Times correspondent
"The Trip to Bountiful," Your Theatre's final production at 71 Maxfield St. before its move to St. Martin's Church, is replete with honest emotion, talent and unfolding energy.
Lucy Bly, as Carrie Watts, leads a stellar cast into cascading emotion, as her character struggles, mentally and physically, to return to the home and simple life she knew in Bountiful, Texas.
"I made a promise to myself to see my home in Bountiful once more before I die," says Carrie, "to recover my dignity and the peace I used to know".
Carrie has known little peace living in Houston with her son, Ludie, and his self-serving wife, Jessie Mae, and simply decides to finally fly the coop, on a morning that has begun as routinely as any other.
The journey is long, frightening and tiring, but Carrie wears her determination and courage like a medal of freedom.
Ms. Bly conveys emotion in every breath, every gesture, every blink of an eye. Her acting choices never compromise the character she plays or the audience's relationship with the character.
As each new character enters, Ms. Bly gently accepts them, in her demeanor, vocal nuances and interpretation of Horton Foote's compassionate script.
Lee Fortier plays Ludie, a tightly wrapped dutiful son and husband. The plot provides this character with enough reason to run screaming from the heart-wrenching sadness of his mother's plight and the daily doses of selfishness spewed by Jessie Mae.
Yet, Mr. Fortier holds his own on the domestic battlefield, striking a believable balance between frustration, guilt and the need to simply walk away from conflict.
His scenes with Ms. Bly, after Carrie has finally arrived in Bountiful, are some of the most moving in the show.
Annie Hart Cool, as Jessie Mae, creates the kind of character you love to hate. While Jessie Mae is the sour spot in everyone's day, Ms. Cool is magnificent in honing and revving up the character, keeping her at peak obnoxiousness. Ms. Cool gives us a consistently annoying entity, skillfully infusing Jessie Mae with variety and humor.
Maureen Bennett is lovely and natural as Thelma, a sweet young newlywed who shares time, tears and stories with Carrie as they travel together on the bus.
Armand Viera plays the Harrison Ticket Man with ease and gentility. Eric Paradis and Gil Cardona-Erazo play Houston Ticket Men and Elena Murphy is a Traveler.
Al Vitale portrays an authoritative and compassionate sheriff.
Like so many shows under the sensitive direction of Stephen Kay, "The Trip to Bountiful" is a beautiful piece of character exploration and tight ensemble acting.
"The Trip to Bountiful" continues at Your Theatre, 71 Maxfield St., New Bedford, this evening at 8 p.m. and tomorrow with a 2:30 p.m. matinee. Performances are slated at 8 p.m. next Wednesday through Saturday. Tickets range in price from $9 to $12. For reservations and information, call (508) 993-0772.
This story appeared on Page B2 of The Standard-Times on November 13, 2004.
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