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| Much to the dismay of George (Jomar Tagatac) and Emma (Adrienne Kaori Walters), both standing, Resten (Francis Jue) and his wife, Alta (Emily Kuroda), refuse to talk to each other in any language. |
The opening of TheatreWorks’ Silicon Valley’s 50th
season on July13 was bookended by standing ovations.
The first was for founder and artistic director
Robert Kelley, while the second was for Julia Cho’s “The Language Archive.”
TheatreWorks recently was honored with the 2019
Regional Theatre Tony Award, accepted by Kelley and others.
Kelley, who has directed more than 175 TheatreWorks
productions, plans to retire at the end of this season. Thus the ovation saluted
him for all of his achievements as he came out for his usual pre-curtain
speech.
In the play, George (Jomar Tagatac) is a linguist
who has mastered many languages and who seeks to preserve languages that could
go extinct.
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| Mary (Elena Wright) tells George (Jomar Tagatac) she's had it and is leaving. |
For all his linguistic skills, however, George can’t
communicate his feelings, especially with his wife, Mary (Elena Wright), who
leaves him.
In the meantime, George brings to his lab an elderly
couple, Resten (Francis Jue) and Alta (Emily Kuroda), who apparently come from
a remote Eurasian area.
Rather than speaking their native tongue for him, though,
they bicker so much in English that soon they aren’t speaking to each other.
They have some of the play’s funniest scenes.
George is assisted by Emma (Adrienne Kaori Walters),
who has secretly loved him for a long time, but she won’t tell him because he’s
married.
Various encounters for the three main characters
have positive but ironic outcomes.
For example, George couldn’t tell Mary how he felt.
However when Emma tells him she’s leaving, he tells her how important she is to
him and his work and how he can’t get along without her. For her, that’s
enough.
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| Mary (Elena Wright) meets a depressed old man (Francis Jue) at a train station. |
Mary talks an old man (Jue) out of jumping in front
of a rushing train, thus giving him the gift of life. He in turn gives her the
gift of a livelihood.
Resten and Alta, faced with his imminent death, choose
to return home but not before reconciling. They also tell George that they will
become intertwining trees after they die. It’s a moving moment.
Director Jeffrey Lo skillfully guides the characters
through their emotional journeys. His one misstep comes when Emma goes to a
German woman (Kuroda) to learn Esperanto, an international language, to please
George. As emphasis, the teacher often slams her pointer on a table, but this noisy
gimmick soon becomes annoying.
Overall, though, the acting by all five cast members
is outstanding, leading to an enjoyable, rewarding experience and earning the
ovation.
Andrea Bechert’s monochromatic set facilitates scene
changes, but squares that change color between scenes don’t add much.
More effective are Sinan Refik Zafar’s sound, Mike
Palumbo’s lighting and Noah Marin’s costumes.
Running about two hours and 15 minutes with one
intermission, “The Language Archive” will continue through Aug. 4 at the Lucie
Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
Photos by Alessandra Mello
