NEW YORK—In 1960s Jackson, Miss., a drab and dingy motel houses a group of unfortunates, either living, working, or visiting, in Beth Henley’s alternately disturbing and enthralling play The Jacksonian.
Chief among the sufferers is dentist Bill Perch (played with vulnerability and charm by Ed Harris). Bill has been thrown out of his home by wife Susan (nicely played by Harris’s real-life wife, Amy Madigan) because he was responsible for her having a hysterectomy when she was under anesthesia for a tumor removal.
Susan is not quite in her right mind, but when Bill suggests psychiatric intervention for her, she of course resists the suggestion.
Running the front desk at this seedy establishment is barkeeper Fred (Bill Pullman), whose pompadour and inappropriate twitching make him seem like a denizen from a mental health institution. But like so many crazies running about in our society, despite his inappropriate behavior, he manages to get his way.
Bored and promiscuous fellow employee, housekeeper Eva (Glenne Headly), always has an eye out for a man. With the only lone male around being the dentist—well, one thing leads to another.
Eva, like so many ignorant people who haven’t much in the way of brain cells, often expresses racist remarks. (Remember, this is the South of the ’60s.)
Serving as narrator as well as a character is Bill’s preteen daughter, Rosy (Juliet Brett), who is attired in a blanket draped over her shoulders most of the time. Barkeep Fred can’t resist trying to seduce the underage girl, but she will have none of him, except for one somewhat bizarre incident.
The anguished Rosy would do anything to keep her parents from divorcing, and her mother’s ambiguous behavior makes it difficult for Rosy to know just where she stands. There are times when Bill and Susan are getting along quite well, but one evening when Susan discovers Eva in Bill’s room, things get out of hand.
Bill, who is often high on liquor, nitrous oxide, or whatever anesthesia-like products he has in his possession, now loses control. Here the play takes a severely dark turn. Further, it comes out that this incident is not the first time that violence has played a role in Bill’s past.
Henley’s skill as a playwright (winner of a Pulitzer Prize and other awards for her Crimes of the Heart) makes the play’s events seem inevitable, which casts a sense of pervading gloom.
Yet, there are plenty of funny moments. And as a saving grace, because the play’s events alternate between past and present, the final scene is an upbeat, former pleasant day enjoyed by father and daughter.
As one theatergoer remarked on leaving The New Group presentation of the Geffen Playhouse production, “It’s always nice to see a happy ending.”
Robert Falls, artistic director of Chicago’s noted Goodman Theatre, has directed with sensitivity and aplomb.
Falls has a top drawer set of performers to work with here: Ed Harris is able to mine a good deal of sympathy for his—if one analyzes it—really strange character.
Amy Madigan scores too for displaying her character’s inconsistent mix of neuroticism and normalcy.
Glenne Headly offers a refreshing wildness that’s always kept in check by her actor’s discipline, while Bill Pullman is a true study in weirdness, both physical and emotional.
Young Juliet Brett does a terrific job of displaying a young girl who is full of emotional pain but, in spite of lack of support, still struggles to maintain her emotional equilibrium.
The Jacksonian offers a really fascinating evening in the theater.
The Jacksonian
Acorn Theatre
410 West 42nd Street
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: 212-239-6200 or visit telecharge.com
Closes: Dec. 22
Diana Barth publishes New Millennium, an arts publication. For information: [email protected].
