NEW YORK—“The heart wants what the heart wants.” A time-worn cliché to be sure, but one all too true in Rita Kalnejais’s “This Beautiful Future” at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The play is a somber and surprisingly touching drama about the possibilities love can bring.
The story takes place in August of 1944, in a bedroom of an abandoned home in Chartres, France, approximately 56 miles from Paris. It is here two young people, Otto (Uly Schlesinger), a somewhat reserved German soldier, and Elodie (Francesca Carpanini), a boisterous Frenchwoman, will meet for what will turn out to be the most important night of their lives.
It is an encounter filled with nervous hesitation, each clearly having feelings for the other, but both hesitant to take the next step.
As time progresses, and with the reality of war right outside their door, the characters’ different backgrounds and upbringings prove to be an obstacle difficult to reconcile, much less overcome. Otto is proud to be in the service of his country and fully believes in what he does.
Currently, he and the rest of his unit are awaiting orders from their commanders, instructions Otto is certain will call for the invasion of England. Elodie, on the other hand, would rather forget everything and everyone else, and simply concentrate on their time together.
It’s a testament to the play, as well as Jack Serio’s careful direction, that one becomes drawn into the tale, despite having knowledge that some of the characters do not. (Spoiler alert: Otto and his unit never make it to England.)
The audience is captivated by these two young people who are able, for a while at least, to shut out all that is going on around them and focus only on the here and now.
Rounding out the cast are Austin Pendleton and Angelina Fiordellisi as an older couple who don’t so much comment on what happens, but rather consider what they would have done differently in the same situation, and with the benefit of hindsight.
The story itself is nicely structured, allowing everyone to see the circumstances that have brought Elodie and Otto to this moment, from their first conversation and “meet cute” interplay, to what happens this day, the next morning, and beyond, although events are not always depicted in chronological order.
Excellent Performances
Schlesinger is excellent as Otto, who can best be described as a true believer. His explanation of some of the things he has done is delivered in a matter-of-fact manner, sure that his actions are for the greater good; he understands it’s not his job to question the decisions of those in charge.At the same time, the character serves as a warning of the dangers in completely believing a picture painted by one’s superiors, or one’s government, for that matter. It’s a credit to the actor’s performance that you generally come to care about him as a person, and about what happens to him.
Carpanini’s character initially comes off as more off-putting. It’s as if she’s not taking the relationship as seriously as Otto, at least at first. Her attitude is eventually explained when it’s revealed she’s privy to certain information that Otto is unaware of, and thus desperate to have this one night with him before things change, possibly forever.
In the end, she shows herself to be guilty of her own kind of blindness. It would also have been nice to learn a bit more of her backstory, especially her feelings when she’s first touched by the war.
Pendleton and Fiordellisi’s efforts nicely complement those of Schlesinger and Carpanini. The older couple’s various comments and actions, both verbal and musical, effectively add extra layers of poignancy to the tale as it’s being told.
With echoes of “Romeo and Juliet,” an important subplot about a chicken egg that represents the concept of rebirth, and a somewhat ironic title, “This Beautiful Future” examines the hope of possibilities amid a time of grim reality.
