Shed a single tear

Sorrows and Rejoicings

Directed by Timothy Douglas

Through Feb. 16

At…

Sorrows and Rejoicings

Directed by Timothy Douglas

Through Feb. 16

At City Theatre

Call for tickets (412) 431-CITY

The past isn’t in the past – it’s a living, breathing thing, like a shadow with a mind of its own, following us, reminding us that it’s there. This is the basic premise of “Sorrows and Rejoicings,” where characters’ memories of each other often seem more important than the people themselves.

A play that dwells in memory could be action-packed. This one isn’t. Instead of bombarding the audience with motion, scene changes, or a large cast, it focuses on four people in one room in a Karoo village in South Africa, circa 1999. Dawid, an Afrikaans writer, has just died, bringing together his white wife, Allison; and Marta, his black lover from years before; as well as Dawid and Marta’s illegitimate daughter, Rebecca. As the women try to come to terms with Dawid’s death, they tell a story of South Africa (new and old) which reveals the importance of memory in a nation still deciding its identity.

“Sorrows and Rejoicings” wants to be quietly compelling, and it often succeeds, mostly in the interactions between Allison (Helena Ruoti) and Marta (Kelly Taffe). Their small movements on the stage, a careful circling around each other, make the tension between them almost unbearable. Rebecca Utt as Rebecca has a mastery of body language that makes her transformation – from sullenly silent to confidently angry – enjoyable to watch, if still predictable.

Conan McCarty as Dawid has the least to work with; his character of a failed writer and political man is an old cliche, and it’s difficult to understand why such lively women would care about him. He does supply his character with plenty of bravado, shouting words in Afrikaans and rolling the consonants like a linguist in heaven. He often keeps the play from becoming stagnant amid all the talk around the table, despite having to spout politics most of the time.

However, the overall tone of the play is one of subtlety, and the politics are a presence, but not a burden. Tony Ferrieri, designer of excellent sets for City Theatre, created two sets in one to match the dual stories of a millennial “family” and the country they live in – the small room where the characters sit, reliving moments from their lives, and behind it, through several doorways and gauze screens, the veld, South Africa’s open country. The effect is a constant, quiet reminder that this story is one that, in some version, is taking place all over the country.

The conversations of the characters are so controlled and their space on the stage so constricted, that “Sorrows and Rejoicings” ends as a good example of the “less is more” mentality. Director Timothy Douglas must be commended for keeping this play mostly reined in, even when it tries to spin out into a loose bundle of ugly emotions. His trick, to keep the story broiling under the surface, retains a mystery that keeps the audience watching.