THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jessica Hecht delivers a voracious performance in Neena Beber’s prismatic new play A MOTHER

Jessica Hecht and the cast of Baryshnikov Arts Center’s production of “A Mother” by Neena Beber (photo by Maria Baranova).

Last night, Neena Beber’s new play A Mother opened at the Baryshnikov Arts Center as part of the performing arts institution’s 20th anniversary season. Conceived by Beber alongside beloved stage actress Jessica Hecht, the prismatic play combines elements of Brechtian theater, musical theater (namely, Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon), and even disco culture to animate a theatrical memoir — of sorts. I say “of sorts” because its fractured memories (a cornucopia featuring young romance, theater camp, race riots, etc.) are inextricably intertwined with and presented through the lens of Brecht’s rarely-performed play The Mother.

Such a swirling fantasia of memories and theatrical references — augmented by live music performed by composers Norman “Skip” Burns and Willian Kenneth Vaughn (with additional music by Mustapha Khan) — will no doubt tickle the imaginations of many a theater nerd (but may admittedly confound some). It also demonstrates theater’s unique capacity to accommodate such elaborate, stream-of-conscience storytelling, creating a single fabric out of wildly disparate dramatic trajectories and theatrical fabrications. Aided by Neil Patel’s elegantly understated set design, director Maria Mileaf (thankfully) handles the play’s numerous flights of fancy with deceptive simplicity.

At the center of A Mother is Hecht’s voracious, deeply personalized performance, which toggles between modes with intelligence and genuine wonder. Although she perhaps needed a few more days to prepare for prime time at the showing I attended — a number of lines were flubbed, albeit shrugged off with consummate finesse — there’s no questioning her magnetism as an actress of the first order throughout. She’s joined by a small but admirably game ensemble who shape-shift, as needed, to accommodate the play’s intricately interweaving structure.

RECOMMENDED

A MOTHER
Off-Broadway, Play
Baryshnikov Arts Center
1 hours, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through April 13

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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