At the start of American Players Theatre’s Seascape, life’s a beach. But, Edward Albee’s classic play doesn’t stay a dreamy holiday for long. It evolves into an honest and, at times, humorous look at some of the most intimate conversations that happen between couples.
Nancy and Charlie are facing a new stage in their lives. Their children are grown and Charlie has retired. Seascape finds the couple on a beach vacation, contemplating how to fill their golden years.
Nancy (Sarah Day) has a lust for life; she’s ready to start checking adventures off her bucket list. Charlie (Jonathan Smoots), on the other hand, is eager to settle in and gather a bit of dust. This dichotomy is palpable from the moment the lights come up on Jeffrey Kmiec’s beautifully designed set in APT’s indoor Touchstone Theatre. Amid sand dunes tufted with grass, Charlie reclines on a blanket, next to the remains of a picnic lunch. Nancy pours her energy into a watercolor painting of the very seascape they inhabit.
Within just a few minutes, the couple’s conversation devolves into a head-on discussion about their own mortality, alternately heartbreaking and humorous. Albee’s dialogue is consistently honest, poignant and witty.
The couple’s conversation is interrupted by the appearance of another twosome. Sarah (Christina Panfilio) and Leslie (LaShawn Banks) are also visitors to the beach, but they’ve arrived from somewhere surprising: under the sea. Covered in scales, they walk on all fours and have long, reptilian tails. Devon Painter’s costumes are just right — dramatic enough to grab the audience’s attention without coming across as too goofy. Jessica Lanius’ choreography captures the movements of a reptile perfectly, and Panfilio and Banks have the stamina it takes for these physically demanding roles.
After initial suspicion, the foursome begins an interchange, trying to understand the other species. It becomes clear that Sarah and Leslie, despite not being human, are filled with humanity. As the play progresses, the lines between “brute beast” and human being grow increasingly blurred.
Edward Albee won a Pulitzer for Seascape in 1975 and it’s no surprise. Inserting talking lizards into play that explores crucial, existential conversations is not an easy thing to pull off. But Albee pulled it off. And this production, at the direction of Laura Golden, does Albee’s work justice. The result is a show that’s both meaningful and mesmerizing.
