Mother of the Maid
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Cititour.com Review
I will say this for Jane Anderson. She definitely knows how to write women’s roles that prove to be great showcases for Glenn Close. In the recent film “The Wife,” Anderson created the plum part of Joan Castleman, the long-frustrated spouse of an acclaimed novelist -- one which may well earn Close her first (and long overdue) Academy Award.
Now, at the Public Theater, Close is starring in the title role of Anderson’s “Mother of the Maid” as Isabelle, the feisty, outspoken, sometimes sardonic, often fearless, occasionally terrified and always loving mother of Joan of Arc. Unsurprisingly, Close delivers the goods, scene after scene, in a tour de force performance that practically demands that you keep your eyes on her at all times. (Even if she never says it out loud, the subtext of Close’s work here can be easily summarized by her most famous film line: “I will not be ignored!”)
Sadly, that’s where the good news ends. The uneasy feeling that Anderson’s script won’t live up to Close’s talents hits you immediately: nothing about the play makes you feel remotely as if you’re in 15th-century France: Close speaks (mostly) in her now-signature quasi-regal tones, a surprisingly unimpressive Dermot Crowley, as her farmer husband Jacques, seems like he’s wandered away from a Brian Friel play (it doesn’t help that they call each other “Ma” and “Da”), and Grace Van Patten’s Joan sounds like every sullen American teenager. And the sheer amount of purely anachronistic dialogue is almost unforgivable. (At one point, for example, Close screams “get over it.”)
Worse yet, Anderson (and by extension, Van Patten) has done nothing to create a Joan who is remotely believable as the girl the King of France allowed to lead the French army into battle against English. Yes, this Joan has passion, but no true charisma or any hint of mystical aura. And her transformation at the play’s end into a scared little girl being comforted by mommy makes it even more nonsensical that Joan would not have disavowed her visions of Saint Catherine to avoid being burned at the stake.
The few other supporting players, most notably Joan’s brother Pierre (Andrew Hovelson), local priest Father Gilbert (Daniel Pearce), and the empathetic if clueless Lady of the Court (Kate Jennings Grant), are all drawn in two-dimensional strokes, and the actors are seemingly given little help by director Matthew Penn. The production also looks surprisingly cheap, despite the talents of such top-notch designers as John Lee Beatty (whose rotating set looks like a college class project) and Jane Greenwood (whose costumes are serviceable, but never inspired).
Yet, perhaps the play’s biggest sin is that it doesn’t show us the most interesting aspect of Isabelle’s life, when she traveled to Paris to visit the delegation from the Holy See and delivered a moving speech that led to the overturn of her daughter’s conviction of heresy. (Anderson actually fudges these facts a little as well). Instead, this remarkable feat is delivered in a few lines of narration by Close (who is called on periodically to talk about Isabelle in the third person). In a play full of missteps and misguided choices, this is the mother of all mistakes!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/18-19-Season/Mother-of-the-Maid
Cast
Glenn Close, Dermot Crowley, Olivia Gilliatt, Kate Jennings Grant, Andrew Hovelson, Daniel Pearce, Grace Van Patten
Open/Close Dates
Opening 9/25/2018
Closing 12/23/2018
Box Office
212-967-7555
Theatre Info
Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
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