Chamber Theatre plays 'Duet' bravely, brilliantly

From JSOnline

By Mike Fischer, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Feb. 20, 2010

On the night before cellist Jacqueline du Pré died, hurricane-force winds lashed her native England, uprooting trees and ravaging the land. As Elizabeth Wilson notes in her biography, du Pré's interior landscape was similarly stormy during her struggle with the multiple sclerosis that destroyed her career and then killed her.

Playwright Tom Kempinski's moving "Duet for One" uses du Pré's life as the scaffolding for his fictionalized account of a violinist's battle with the same disease.

But the bravely and beautifully acted revival unveiled by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Friday night ultimately transcends such particulars, conveying the rage and terror each of us feels at the dying of the light, in our loved ones and in ourselves.

"Duet" is structured as six distinct therapy sessions between the wheelchair-bound Stephanie Abrahams and her psychiatrist, Alfred Feldmann. Under Paul Mason Barnes' direction, Jacque Troy and C. Michael Wright fully inhabit these characters.

In preparing for her role, Troy logged many hours in a rehabilitation clinic with a physical therapist and patients who have multiple sclerosis.

Troy's extra work paid off, giving an authenticity to how Stephanie moves - and cannot move - that adds a visceral and physical dimension to her anger as she recalls the fluidly played music and freely lived life she has lost.

Even as Troy's Stephanie charms her way through her initial therapy session, she is just prickly enough to help us see that anger build.

Because of Troy's carefully laid groundwork, Stephanie's subsequent journey into emotionally undiscovered country covers huge distances while remaining dramatically credible. That journey is harrowing, revealing the wafer-thin crust separating our everyday selves from the buried secrets and insecurities lurking behind the closet door.

It is Feldmann who must open that door, by convincing Stephanie and the audience that he is more than the seemingly detached persona that meets the eye.

Wright does so, in a deliberately restrained performance that nevertheless exudes integrity and empathy, as well as growing agitation when these qualities are not appreciated by his difficult and demanding patient.

The doctor's dam finally gives way toward play's end, resulting in a stirring aria that Wright delivers with passion and conviction - qualities that characterize every exchange in this show.

"Duet for One" continues through March 14 at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call (414) 291-7800 or go online at milwaukeechambertheatre.com.