Well

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre opens its season with the Milwaukee premiere of Lisa Kron’s Well — a pseudo-meta-theatrical drama. Angela Iannone stars as Kron, who is trying to develop a theatrical exploration into the nature of health and illness in modern society. Ruth Schudson plays Lisa’s mother, who has unsuspectingly been framed onstage as Lisa’s case study in human health. In spite of Lisa’s persistent affirmations that she is not doing a play about her mother, her mother slowly takes over the production, leaving Lisa to wonder what she was trying to say in the first place.

The set, designed by Lisa Schlenker, splits the stage down the middle. On the right, the set is furnished and domestic, with bookcases, knickknacks, furniture and – at the outset of the play – Lisa’s mother, asleep. Stage left is bare, with a video screen high above the floor. Angela Iannone’s stage presence is fascinating – she deftly portrays Lisa Kron ass a magnetic, witty playwright. Ruth Schudson, who has taken on a great many roles over the years, looks absolutely at home onstage, rendering Mrs. Kron’s wizened confidence with comely clarity. The supporting ensemble includes local stage veterans Bo Johnson and Tami Workentin, rising talent Travis A. Knight and relative newcomer Marti Gobel. All performances here are well-executed, but there seems to be something missing, and it isn’t due to any lack of skill on the part of talented director Laura Gordon.

There’s a level of cohesion that the script never quite manages to attain. Through its post-modern construction, it directly addresses Well’s lack of cohesion, which grows to become the central conflict of the play. But simply making note of the disconnectedness of scenes doesn’t make them any easier to bear. A lack of cohesion is a lack of cohesion, even if you choose to make it the play’s driving conflict.

Kron’s script is clever, but it fails as a piece of meta-theatre on a fundamental level. Throughout the play, each character in the production is revealed to be the actor or actress playing them except Lisa herself, who is never completely revealed to be Angela Iannone. Iannone excels in the role of an artist who is losing track of her statement, but the production is never allowed to acknowledge that a talented actress is playing the role of the playwright. In this respect, every production of Well that doesn’t star the real Lisa Kron in the female lead is limited. Make no mistake – this is a satisfying production, but in a play so narrowly focused on striking the ore of human emotion, the play’s central figure is merely speaking the same lines all the rest of the actors are. It’s a flaw that cuts to the heart of what Kron is trying to say. VS

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of Well runs now through August 24 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre. Tickets can be purchased by calling 414-291-7800 or visit the Chamber Theatre online.