Ava: The Secret Conversations
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Geffen Playhouse
Through May 7
The Secret Conversations, a book consisting of a series of interviews Peter Evans conducted with Hollywood star Ava Gardner about her life, had an unusual and circuitous path to publication. The interviews were conducted in the late 1980s, until Gardner withdrew from the project, possibly due to ex-husband Frank Sinatra offering her money to not have it published in their lifetimes. Evans continued trying to get it published but died in 2012, whereupon his editor finished the book and published it in 2013. Now writer/performer Elizabeth McGovern has written Ava: The Secret Conversations, a play based upon the book which is receiving a world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse starring herself. Although the performances in this production are good, the play itself feels scattered and uneven in quality.
In 1988 London, writer Peter (Aaron Costa Ganis) gets an unexpected phone call from Ava Gardner (McGovern), asking if he’d like to ghost write an autobiography for her. As she puts it, after having had a stroke, she needs the money and doesn’t want to sell her jewels. Peter, who wants his editor to publish a novel he’s written, takes the job hoping it’ll move the novel towards his goal but ultimately becomes fascinated with Gardner’s story. Peter wants to focus on her films, but his editor pushes for lascivious gossip about her celebrity marriages. Meanwhile Gardner begins to wonder if Peter is the best writer for this project and whether she wants to continue with it at all.
McGovern’s performance feels surprisingly genuine, considering that she doesn’t look much like Gardner. It feels deeply inhabited, and she brings great detail and an unexpectedly profane humor to the role. She seems to have an understanding of the part that only another actress with a long experience of Hollywood could have. Ganis is very good, although the role of Peter as written isn’t especially compelling or convincing. However, his scenes in which he portrays Sinatra, Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw demonstrate his obvious talent and range.
Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel gets strong work from his leads, but his transitions between scenes that play out in the present and flashbacks are confusing or clunky. Scenic designer David Meyer’s interior is appropriately elegant, but Alex Basco Koch’s projections of old movie stills and headlines (colored for some odd reason a fluorescent violet) don’t quite fit the show. McGovern, a terrific actress, doesn’t seem quite as experienced as a playwright. The structure, wherein Peter speaks with his agent over the phone throughout, is one of the least interesting things about the play, and a shoehorned-in possible romantic entanglement feels extraneous. All I wanted to know was more about Gardner, but instead a lot of time is taken up with business I didn’t care about. Perhaps this material would be better suited to a solo format.
Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles; Tues.-Fri. 7 p.m., Sat. 2 & 7 p.m., Sun. 1 & 6 p.m.; through May 7. www.geffenplayhouse.org. Running time: one hour and thirty minutes with no intermission.
