Written and directed by Lloyd J. Schwartz, the two-person drama turns the theatre into a memorial service as an elderly brother and sister read the poems they never knew their father had written during his lifetime.
By John Lavitt
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 07-31-2024
Sitting in the audience at Theatre West as the two-person play begins, you quickly realize that you have become part of the drama. Ten years after his death, Mabel (Kathie Barnes) and Jack Junior (Aan Schack) are holding a second memorial service for their father, and you are in attendance. The conceit of this theatrical ploy attempts to invest the audience in the proceedings from the outset. Although clever, it does not work because we are not actually part of this stranger’s community. Still, suspending disbelief, we buy into the moment.
An accomplished writer of countless plays and television episodes, including classic turns back in the day on Love American Style, The Brady Bunch, and What’s Happening, Lloyd J. Schwartz is a creative powerhouse. In his play, the reason behind the second memorial a decade after a man’s death is the discovery by his children of a box of poetry. Written by their father and never shared with anyone, the poetry starts in his childhood and goes until the end of his life. Beginning with a heartfelt story of a boy growing up in the Depression, the poems traverse many landscapes, including first loves, the Second World War, marriage, and the lives of children.
However, although “Poems For Mary” is the play’s title, it is hard to call what the father wrote poetry. Beyond rhyming, the poems are not all that poetic. Instead, they come across as journal entries with a basic rhyme scheme. With Mabel and Jack Junior reading what must have been close to seventy poems during the two-hour run time, there is a definitive lack of metaphor, simile, and other essential poetic devices in the writing. However, what redeems the show is the emotional and heartfelt nature of the writing. It is easy to identify with and feel for this man, and you soon start rooting for him as his life progresses with the readings.
Although Kathie Barnes and Alan Schack are capable in their roles, what they are given could be much improved. Beyond a bit of back and forth at the beginning, their acting is limited to reading the poems with an occasional reaction to the content. In a sense, “Poems For Mary” feels like a first draft that needs further revision. There needs to be more conflict between the two adult children, and such conflict is implied in their interactions and the content of the poems. However, it is not played out on stage. Thus, the only dramatic progression happens within the context of the poetry, and they were written a long time ago.
Still, in the stillness of the play’s emotional core, it makes sense that Theatre West put on the production. Established in 1962, Theatre West is celebrating its 62nd year as the oldest continually running professional theatre company in Los Angeles. Responsible for the creation of Theatre West’s Storybook Theatre, which has been running for over forty years, Lloyd J. Schwartz is a beacon of light for this esteemed institution.
Indeed, Schwartz’s talent, both as a writer and as a compassionate human being, comes across in the content of “Poems For Mary.” However, he could take this content to the next level of excellence by making it more dramatic and giving his talented actors a bit more to do on stage. By expanding on the idea and allowing it to play out dramatically, by enabling the reading of the poems to be a moment when old wounds are healed as the father helps his children from beyond the grave, “Poems For Mary” could be something more than a curiosity.
