The Tin Woman, Showtimers

Showtimers Community Theater

May 7-17, Thursday through Saturday 7:30 pm, Sunday Matinee 2pm

What a perfectly lovely experience. I literally both laughed and cried. If you are wondering whether you should go see this play, I will give you the TL;DR: yes. Yes you should.

I was not familiar with this script, written by Sean Grennan in 2014. It traces the story of a woman (Joy) who's received a heart transplant; the family of the donor (Jack) who are grieving the loss of their son; and how their lives eventually intertwine.

The script itself is very good. It is very funny and very touching. It touches on issues from depression to grief to survivor guilt to the meaning of life itself. It gives us reasons for living without being saccharine or explicitly spiritual. And did I mention it's funny? It's very funny.

There are a few loose ends - there's this tree symbolism near the beginning that seems not to really come back; the "vivacious friend" character (Darla) has unrealized potential; we're never explicitly told why it's called The Tin Woman [I mean yes that's obviously a Wizard of Oz reference, the Tin Man needed a heart and all that, but it never comes up in the play itself], and we don't fully understand the backstory on Joy's illness or her depression. I did find it a little unsatisfying that a story which begins as Joy's tale kind of becomes all about Hank (the dad) at the end -- typical male author, am I right? But overall, it's a very good play with a lot of sweetness and wisdom.

This set of actors, guided by director Carolyn Watson, did a wonderful job with the play. To a person, the cast was excellent.They knew what they were doing - they knew their lines, they moved with fluidity, they got us laughing, and they got us crying. Every line was audible, they worked well as an ensemble and they clearly enjoyed every minute of it.

Caits Fitzpatrick, as Joy, did a particularly good job with a difficult part. How to be depressed but also compelling and charismatic at the same time? I wouldn't know where to begin with that -- but Fitzpatrick did it very well. Her deep likeability makes her self-destructive moments painful and her awkwardness acutely felt by the audience. She especially shines when she starts to channel Jack, standing up to Hank as nobody else can. It's surprising to see that strength in her, but also very believable, in genuine continuity with the rest of her character.

Evan Odson, as Jack, also had a difficult part -- he essentially silently haunted the entire cast throughout the play. His role was to stand there, unseen by them but seen by the audience, and grimace (or evince other reactions - but the grimaces were particularly good). His presence was a valuable supernatural element in the script -- we can see what he thinks of the goings-on, and every now and then he does seem to spiritually intervene by giving someone an idea. He also projects a strong likeability. We are so glad that Joy got his heart.

The rest of the cast are also very good! I could write paragraphs about each one. I couldn't get enough of MaryJean Redon Levin, Jack's mom - her remarkable magnetism had me following her in every scene. She plays a compelling, extremely strong character with so much poise and grace. I loved her wardrobe (that green dress!) and everything else about her. John Jackson ably played Hank, Jack's dad, and easily led the audience on a transformation from disliking him to sympathizing with him.

Zoe Marvel as Sammy, Jack's sister, struck just the right balance between dreamy and vivacious. She could have played the part "too-ditzy" but she didn't, giving Sammy some dignity which I found moving. And Amanda Johnson's Darla and Nurse characters brought sensibility and vigor, reliable laughs and great physical humor. I wish the playwright had given her even more lines and an even bigger part.

There are some awkward moments. This is purposeful - it seems to be part of the script. Director Carolyn Watson has found the right way to embrace the awkward, whether it's Joy and Jack's "meet cute" or Sammy and Joy's messy first meeting. The play has a strong heart: Watson has afforded her actors the freedom to feel, and to put those feelings to good use. Though the heart was strong, I did wonder about the beat: the pacing of the play felt too fast in many places. Funny bits need speed, but they were so quickly interspersed with more poignant moments, I found myself wanting to savor the words a little more. 

(I see this in many productions, especially Shakespeare and period pieces - we worry it will drag, we worry that the audience expects continual entertainment and will elope at intermission if they are not sufficiently dopamine-stimulated in the first half - but sometimes the audience just needs a moment to take it all in. We don't absorb heavy things immediately. Some of these lines need breathing room.)

I especially wanted the culminating scene to take longer. I know they are rushed by the closing bell, but I still wanted a longer moment to absorb the delicious juxtaposition of generosity and awkwardness, the bridging of differences, the closure and the opening. [It is taking a great deal of self control to keep myself from going completely overboard with heart puns in this review. I have great respect for the playwright for not going down that road.]

The set was a good complement to the play. The production flashes back and forth between scenes, so we needed multiple playing areas to be present simultaneously, and this set does the job well. I enjoyed the tree image in the center of the set at first, but by the second half I found it to be a bit distracting, because it was bright enough that it drew my attention away from the actors on many occasions, and because I kept expecting it to do more than it was doing (progress from spring to summer to fall, perhaps). (It did shimmer at the end, which was nice.) 

The tree appears to always be blooming (even when the image shifts to greyscale) which put me in mind of what it must have been like for these actors to rehearse this play leading up to this moment. They must have enjoyed exploring this delightful script during this perfectly lovely spring we've been having, with all the blooming trees around us. I already miss those colorful trees in our fair city. A different kind of "very recent nostalgia" is echoed in the script, which is clearly timestamped at 2014, when having a blog was a big deal, nobody was sure how to use a digital camera, and you kept your music on an iPod. 

The sound elements were good. The script mentions a musical group that I think is fictional (I can't recall the name), but which the director chose to portray with "Falling Slowly," which won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2008 (from the film Once). It's a great song, which I'm happy to be reminded of, in that "recent nostalgia" vein.

Here's what else this play helped me remember: organ donation, though it is emotionally complicated, is worthwhile. Be an organ donor! I didn't see any indication that Showtimers is partnering with any organ donation groups on this production, but they could. April is national Donate Life month (I guess we just missed it). More information on organ donation is here: https://www.donatelifevirginia.org/  

This show was extremely worthwhile. Go see it! Bring family and friends. Are there better ways to spend an evening than laughing and crying with a room full of strangers who are bonding through the magic of a well-told story? You won't regret going to this production of The Tin Woman.