Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Argentinian playwright Romina Paula’s THE WHOLE OF TIME artfully finds new hues in a Tennessee Williams classic

• By drediman
• January 19, 2024
• No Comments

This winter, Argentinian playwright Romina Paula presents her latest play The Whole of Time to New York audiences at Torn Page, a private town house in Chelsea (the former residence of renowned actors Rip Torn and Geraldine Page). The new work takes its inspiration from Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, re-setting the classic to present day Argentina and finding ways to spin the play in fascinating new directions, while keeping in spirit with the overarching ethos of the storied American playwright’s works.

In her moody riff, Paula reassesses characters and relationships theatergoers thought they knew well. Although the mold of Williams’ familiar characters and narrative trajectory remains recognizable, the playwright has artfully managed to find surprising new hues in her excavation of The Glass Menagerie. Specifically, she lays bear — often uncomfortably — the complicated, often unhealthy dependencies that often underpin close familial bonds. Seating only 22 audience members per performance, the experience is as intimate as they come, and the voyeuristic “fly-on-the-wall” aspect of the show only contributes to the unsettling tone of the play.

As directed by Tony Torn, the English language premiere of The Whole of Time has been giving an atmospheric staging that doesn’t shy from heightened emotion and borderline surrealism. The same can be said of the quartet of actors – Josefina Scaro, Lucas Salvagno, Ana B. Gabriel, and Ben Becher – all of whom give fearless, at times caustic performances. Each brings a bruised but defiant quality to their respective characterizations that would have done Williams proud.

RECOMMENDED

THE WHOLE OF TIME
Off-Broadway, Play
Joben Productions at Torn Page
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 11