Tale of love and loss
The characters are portrayed with great sensitivity
GERTRUDE STEIN AND A COMPANION
DIRECTOR: Christopher Weare
CAST: Lynita Crofford and Shirley Johnston
VENUE: Alexander Upstairs, until October 20
RATING: ★★★★✩
THIS articulate two-hander from Win Wells offers its audience 70 minutes of heartwarming, intelligent humour as it gently traces the lifelong relationship between writer Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas – a relationship that had a hostile reception from the circles in which these two women moved, namely middle-class America towards the turn of the 20th century.
Their solution was to take up residence in the more tolerant society of bohemian Paris, and the intimacy of their quarters is skilfully captured through items of period furniture and projections on the backdrop of Alexander Upstairs’ minute stage.
The history of their mutual devotion is pieced together in episodes that are not presented in chronological order. We first encounter Toklas in deep mourning, fresh from her companion’s funeral, and thereafter, a series of flashbacks and imaginary conversations between the dead Stein and her surviving lover fresh out their relationship.
Johnston (Stein) and Crofford (Toklas) give excellent portrayals of women who were very different in character. Stein was bold and assertive, whereas Toklas was more reserved. Both are interpreted with sensitivity and insight, so that by the end of the show, one feels a personal acquaintance with them.
Particularly commendable is the likeness between the performers and the originals, pictured on the backdrop in monochromatic, period photographs. Other projections include artworks and celebrities with whom the women rubbed shoulders, such as writer Ernest Hemingway.
This bitter-sweet tale of love and loss holds audience attention with a leavening chuckle or two.