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W. J. Goldie's Trenches at Fell's Point Corner Theatre |
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| W. J. Goldie's Trenches takes place in the boarded-up apartment of a Jewish family still trying to eke out a living in Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II. The title refers not only to battle trenches, but also to the metaphorical trench that Meyer (Rodney Bonds), the family patriarch, has dug to separate himself from a grown son he disowned years ago. What this son, Sammy (Gareth Kelly), did to deserve ostracism is kept secret for much of the play, though it's not difficult to guess that part of his sin was marrying outside the faith. When Sammy shows up at his parents' door, wounded and on the run, Meyer angrily retreats to the bedroom. Much of the play is a battle of wills between these two proud, stubborn men, with Deborah Newman, as Meyer's wife and Sammy's mother, trying to serve as peacemaker. Meyer, who sees the world as black and white, believes in the sanctity of family above all. Sammy, a resistance fighter who has painfully acclimated himself to a world mottled in unsettling grays, also believes in the pre-eminence of family, but the larger family - the family of man, whose essential goodness he's determined to keep the Nazis from annihilating. Goldie, the son of a Holocaust survivor, writes with conviction, but he tends to spell out too much, both in the large revelatory speeches and in statements that unnecessarily underline his points. At Fell's Point Corner Theatre, director Lance Lewman and set designer J. Hillyard have created a palpably claustrophobic milieu, whose terrors and oppressiveness are increased by the juxtaposition of mournful cello music (recorded by Seth Low) and flurries of gunfire. The roles are competently played, with Meyer's obedient younger son and pregnant daughter-in-law given especially fresh and empathetic portrayals by Nathan Bell and Brandie Rocci. Goldie also includes a non-naturalistic character - a dybbuk (Tina Segovia), or ghost, who wafts through several scenes, lending an aura of mysticism that connects the play to Jewish folklore. But the dybbuk serves another purpose as well. In the penultimate scene, when she finally speaks, this ghostly presence poignantly reinforces Goldie's overall theme of family and the bittersweet but reassuring notion that love and loved ones are never truly lost. Show times at Fell's Point Corner, 251 S. Ann St., are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 410-276-7837.
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