Shining act in every heartbeat
IT TAKES an actress of extraordinary capacity and capability to perform in Joan Didion's play The Year of Magical Thinking. Listening to acclaimed thespian Dorothy Ann Gould speak about the play one feels immersed and gripped even before viewing this intense and personal memoir that the award-winning American writer penned.
Directed by Mark Graham Wilson it's just come on stage at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio for a short run until July 28.
Gould's halo of exceptionality shines brightly all around her as we meet at the Baxter. With her distinctively husky voice she speaks passionately about performing the one-hander, which sees her on stage for an intense one hour and 40 minutes in what has been described as “reflective drama at its best”.
The play chronicles the year following the death of Didion's husband, John Gregory Dunne, in 2003. It was an unexpected and sudden end of a 40-year partnership – just days after their only child, Quintana, fell dangerously ill and slipped into a coma.
Faced with the unshakable finality of her husband's death, Didion's normally rational thought processes went haywire. For example, she found herself keeping his shoes, justifying that he would need them when he returned.
Slowly and painfully she acknowledged that while she was going through the motions associated with the rituals of closure, she was, in fact, trying to do the impossible trick: to bring John back. Her memoir is the story of the year she spent wishing – her year of magical thinking.
Gould again teams up with producer, writer and director Wilson following the play's highly successful season at Joburg's Market Theatre. Wilson says of the challenging role and his part in directing Gould: “While it's a one-hander it very much places the audience in the situation as to how many characters there are. Dorothy is given the freedom to react how she wants in terms of her audience interaction. Emotionally there's a very strong sub-text with the audience.”
Wilson adds he had to find a new way to handle the play which has seen such luminaries as Vanessa Regrave in the demanding role in 2007 when Didion's adaptation of her book for Broadway, directed by David Hare, opened.
The play expands on the memoir by dealing with Quintana's death. Redgrave reprised her role at London's National Theatre. In various other iterations, it was also performed in the Sydney Theatre Company's 2008 season, starring Robyn Nevin and directed by Cate Blanchett and in 2011, Fanny Ardant played a French translation of The Year of Magical Thinking in Théâtre de l'Atelier, Paris. Last year, on November 3, 2017, Stageworks Theatre in Tampa, Florida, Vickie Daignault took on the role.
Each actress has given their own interpretation. Gould says of her own role: “One has to be ‘production fit'.
“Not once had I thought of my mom's and father's passing – because I'm so immersed in the character. I also leave my ego and my fears in the wings and take on the character. Now I get to the end and there's none of that feeling of being drained although it is a real catharsis for myself and the audience.”
Gould adds what is so amazing is there's no debriefing at the end. “It's a story – I tell an amazing story but then it's back to Dorothy again – I don't need to take the play to my territory.
“It definitely has some sort of closure. Although there's no sugar coating about this, the character has dealt with her grief at the end and yes, the world has changed for her. It's certainly been hell but she has learnt and manages to come to terms with it.”
Of the challenges she comments, “Somehow you hold 62 pages of script in your head. It was not easy and it did take me four months to memorise. Didion has a rhythm in her script – that's the way she writes – the rhythm of a heartbeat and how the heartbeat changes. If I leave out a word by mistake I know because of this.”
She came into contact with the book (written in 2004) in 2010.
“It was a huge shift in my consciousness. When the story came out I was so determined to do it and it took me four years. It changed my way of thinking. I really do believe in the magic of the spoken word to heal which is what Didion did.”
Her knowledge of Didion is vast and in-depth. “John (Didion's husband) was a social being whereas Didion was more retiring. John finished her sentences for her and when he died she became just half a person.
“For example the use of her hands was so pivotal at the time and they were almost disembodied as she grieved. She was trying to understand and make sense of what had happened – it appeared she had a terrible fear of disorder.”
Gould says that despite the subject matter and the grief displayed there are strong touches of humour and a sense of irony in the play. “And it's really up to the audience as to whether they watch passively or not. I am creating my own little piece of art, refining and paring away. The script is a blueprint as the character is so multi-layered and one can very much choose what one wants to do with it. And, yes, I do trust the script, I trust Mark and I trust the audience.”
'The Year of Magical Thinking’ is on until July 28, at 7.30pm. Booking is through Webtickets.
There is an age restriction of 13 years.