Looks can be deceiving in Mask and Bauble’s first production of the year, Aunt Dan and Lemon. Sitting quietly reading a book in her pink chair, Lemon seems like a typical female lead. As soon as she opens her mouth, it becomes clear that this political satire by playwright Wallace Shawn is unconventional.
Through short vignettes tied together by monologues, Aunt Dan and Lemon deals with countless controversial issues. During the play’s two-hours, the audience is drawn into a world where the line between good and evil is blurred, and sex, violence and greed are guiding principles.
Aunt Dan and Lemon mainly focuses on Lemon, a precious 11-year-old girl played by Sophie Davis (CAS ‘06). Although the play is set in England during the second half of the 20th century, outlandish costumes and sets make it hard to get a feel for the period. The ambiguity of the setting can be confusing, but does not detract from the play.
Because Lemon’s parents were so distracted by their broken marriage to pay her much mind, Lemon became close to a 30-something family friend named Aunt Dan, played by Diana Aurisch (SFS ‘05). Aunt Dan tells Lemon everything, which turns out to be too much.
Aunt Dan’s opinions run from the mundane, such as the need to treat subordinates with respect, to the explicit, such as informing Lemon of her sexual experiences and those of her friends. No detail of her tawdry life is off limits. In her early stories, Aunt Dan seems like a fine woman, but as she continues to talk about her circle of friends, we see her slipping into the gutter.
In one particularly disturbing scene from Dan’s life, Lauren Scanlon (MSB ‘07), as the money hungry Mindy, murders her date Raimundo, played by Phillippe Bowgen (CAS ‘08), in order to earn a quick buck. As you watch Mindy slowly bind and strangle Raimundo underneath an ominous red light, you can’t help but quiver with disgust. All these violent stories have a detrimental effect on young Lemon. As she ages during the play, Lemon suffers from the same moral decay that seems to have destroyed the other characters.
Davis has some inspired moments in the play, particularly her closing monologue, but since she is onstage the whole time, she must give more than moments of inspiration. Her earlier monologues are anticlimactic. Given the variety of topics she covers in a brief period, Davis’ Lemon does not seem spontaneous enough. As the play’s narrator and central character, Davis needs to grab our full attention rather than passively wait for it.
Some of the play’s other actors also have trouble engaging the audience. In the role of Lemon’s reticent mother, Kathryn Brand’s (MSB ‘07) timidity is convincing, but it keeps the audience from seeing her face during much of the play. Aurisch also has difficulty not looking awkward during Aunt Dan’s long monologues.
The production does a good job of integrating design elements into the theme of ethical deterioration. With the help of lighting, sound and the first-ever use of a projection screen in a Georgetown play, the set and costumes seem to deteriorate along with the morals of the characters.
The monologues carry the motif of moral disintegration, while also examining the presence of evil in government.
“You and I are only able to be nice because of our governments-our governments are not nice,” Aunt Dan tells Mother at one point.
She seems to say that we feel clean because we let others do the dirty work. Through Aunt Dan, we see how relevant the play is to our current situation. As she discusses her idol, Henry Kissinger, and the Vietnam War, the audience can’t help but draw parallels to the war in Iraq. Shawn has written Aunt Dan as a warning against complacency.
The play, directed by Cora Weissbourd (CAS ‘06), is Mask and Bauble’s first production of the year. Because of timing issues, production had to deal with a rushed rehearsal schedule, which unfortunately manifests itself in the performance.
Despite the effective delivery of its message, the production falters in its timing. In a play of monologues and short vignettes, pacing is everything. If the audience is to stay interested, transitions must flow with ease and conversations must be tight. While silence can speak volumes, volumes of silence often say nothing.
Aunt Dan and Lemon is ambitious in its undertaking and not without its merits, but now was not the right time for Mask and Bauble to tackle such a challenging work. Under a shortened production schedule and a slew of new actors, Weissbourd had her hands too full. Still, for those who can tolerate its rough edges, Aunt Dan and Lemon is worth seeing.
Aunt Dan and Lemon will be playing for the next two weeks in Poulton Hall every night but Monday and Tuesday. Tickets on sale in Red Square.
