Theater Review: 'Ah, Wilderness' at Hartford Stage

Hartford - Hartford Stage has opened its 2021-2022 season with a production of Eugene O’Neill’s only full-length comedy, “Ah, Wilderness.” The play was originally set to close out the 2019-2020 season at Hartford Stage and was postponed due to the pandemic. The production runs through Nov. 7 and marks Melissa Bensussen’s directing debut in her role as artistic director at the Tony Award-winning theatre in downtown Hartford.

O’Neill set “Ah, Wilderness” in a large small-town in Connecticut (presumably New London) and there are mentions of New Haven, Yale University and even a newspaper in Waterbury. Although the play has become a staple of community theatre, this production marked the first time I have seen it.

Over the Independence Day holiday in 1906, an idealistic teen falls in love with poetry and a girl, only to have his heart broken. It is a play full of heart and wit that celebrates a large family and community. When the play made its debut on Broadway in 1933, the playwright’s only lighthearted play was a success, with George M. Cohan leading the cast. It has since gone on to be consistently revived onstage and was made into a film starring Mickey Rooney, a musical film (“Summer Holiday,”) a radio recording and was adapted into the Broadway musical “Take Me Along” with Jackie Gleason.

Bensussen strives to give this period piece a contemporary feel by having the characters enter in 2020 fashions and then change into the clothing of the era in which it is set. Think floor length skirts for the women, bowler hats for the men and large bows in the long hair of the girls. The language did not seem to have been changed from the original script and the laughs remain in the right places. The family has become mixed-race and is well-cast with multi-generational and talented actors.

The patriarch, the owner of the local newspaper, is played very well by Equity actor Michael Boatman, who appeared on Broadway in the revival of “Master Harold...and the Boys.”

Antoinette LaVechhia (“Torch Song on Broadway) plays the mother of four, Essie Miller, in her Hartford Stage debut. Nat’s sister Lilly, a schoolteacher who is unmarried and childless, is played by Equity actress Natascia Diaz (“Man of La Mancha” on Broadway.)

The character of young Richard, who was modeled on O'Neill's image of himself as an aspiring poet, is played here by Equity actor Jaevon Williams.

Annie Jean Buckley, a BFA student from the Hartford Stage academic theater partnership with The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, is delightful as the Irish maid Norah.

Sid Davis, Essie's forty-five year old brother who is a gambler and an alcoholic, is played by Equity member McCaleb Burnett in his Hartford Stage debut. Brittany Anikka Liu doubles as the lovely Muriel McComber and Belle, a peroxide-blonde prostitute.

The young performers did well with their roles, but I sometimes found it hard to understand the lines of the younger actors, especially when they had their back to most of the audience.

The magnificent set designed by James Noone is a large and open vintage home that morphs into the back room of a bar in a small hotel and even the harbor with a wooden boat. The costumes designed by Olivera Gajic begin in the contemporary and land firmly in the early 1900s. The wigs, hair and makeup by J. Jared Janas enhance the period ensembles and lighting by Wen-Ling Liao makes the most of all of the above.

The Hartford Stage version features live music under the direction of Yan Li on piano. The production sets out to transform this nostalgic classic to reflect contemporary times and attempts to expand our vision of what family and community can mean.

Masks are required for all patrons regardless of vaccine status and food and drink are not allowed into the theatre, although I saw several people bring their wine in with them. Tickets can be reserved at HartfordStage.org or (860) 527-5151.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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