Opined March 3, 2004
Usher Nonsense #30 – Wintertime
WINTERTIME by Charles L. Mee, directed by David Schweizer at Second Stage
Theatre
With Tina Benko, Brienin Bryant, Marylouise Burke, Michael Cerveris, T.
Scott Cunningham, Carmen de Lavallade, Christopher Denham, Nicholas
Hormann, Marsha Mason, Danny Mastrogiorgio
Sets - Andrew Lieberman, Lights - Kevin Adams, Costumes - David Zinn
If you don't go see this play, everything will be OK. You can also go see this play and
everything will be about the same as when you went in.
If you don't go you will miss very fine performances by T. Scott Cunningham and
Danny Mastrogiorgio, as well as an OK job by Mary Louise Burke. The rest is just so-
so, as is the premise. Four couples (One woman and her lover, her ex-husband and
his lover, her son and his lover, plus two gay neighbors) have love troubles in the
middle of the winter in the middle of the woods.
For some reason the author thought it was necessary to have the two leads (Marsha
Mason and Michael Cerveris) play and Italian and a French person respectively. This
doesn't add to the plot in any way (partly because all the accents are irratic), and the
plot could use at least one point of solid reference. It's absurd, which is OK , but the
writing wanders and the performances aren't strong.
The wonderful set design by Andrew Lieberman give s us a house in winter minus the
walls, so the characters storm back and forth between the snow covered woods and
the white living room. It helps you to let go of reality. But the writing and acting
combine to give the effect that the characters have sniffed a little too much of the fake
snow and are floating far, far-away-off even as we watch.
Usher Nonsense #30 – Wintertime
WINTERTIME by Charles L. Mee, directed by David Schweizer at Second Stage
Theatre
With Tina Benko, Brienin Bryant, Marylouise Burke, Michael Cerveris, T.
Scott Cunningham, Carmen de Lavallade, Christopher Denham, Nicholas
Hormann, Marsha Mason, Danny Mastrogiorgio
Sets - Andrew Lieberman, Lights - Kevin Adams, Costumes - David Zinn
If you don't go see this play, everything will be OK. You can also go see this play and
everything will be about the same as when you went in.
If you don't go you will miss very fine performances by T. Scott Cunningham and
Danny Mastrogiorgio, as well as an OK job by Mary Louise Burke. The rest is just so-
so, as is the premise. Four couples (One woman and her lover, her ex-husband and
his lover, her son and his lover, plus two gay neighbors) have love troubles in the
middle of the winter in the middle of the woods.
For some reason the author thought it was necessary to have the two leads (Marsha
Mason and Michael Cerveris) play and Italian and a French person respectively. This
doesn't add to the plot in any way (partly because all the accents are irratic), and the
plot could use at least one point of solid reference. It's absurd, which is OK , but the
writing wanders and the performances aren't strong.
The wonderful set design by Andrew Lieberman give s us a house in winter minus the
walls, so the characters storm back and forth between the snow covered woods and
the white living room. It helps you to let go of reality. But the writing and acting
combine to give the effect that the characters have sniffed a little too much of the fake
snow and are floating far, far-away-off even as we watch.
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