Be a Good Little Widow
Reviewed by Iris Mann
Christopher Sepulveda & 3Gems Productions
Through June 9
Anyone who has suffered a painful personal loss may relate to aspects of Bekah Brunstetter’s Be a Good Little Widow. But the play about a young married woman faced with the sudden death of her husband is only intermittently effective. A visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre, it’s loaded with meaningless dialogue that doesn’t serve the theme. And rather than going deep, it merely skims the surface of grief.
Brunstetter’s approach to the pain of loss might be compared to Tad Mosel’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning play All the Way Home (based on James Agee’s iconic autobiographical novel A Death in the Family, which also won a Pulitzer in 1957). Agee and Mosel were dealing with a different time period and a different setting, but they also explored the effect on a young wife of her husband’s untimely death, and with much greater depth and searing power.
In Brunstetter’s story, Melody (Adrienne Visnic) and Craig (Sterling Knight) are in the early years of their marriage and still getting to know one another. Craig, a corporate lawyer, travels a great deal for business. While he is on a trip, Melody learns from a television news report that his plane has crashed. Craig is dead, and there is no body to be recovered from the carnage. Never having been dealt such a blow — in fact, never having been to a funeral — Melody is rendered immobile.
Her mother-in-law, Hope (Sandy Bainum), is also a widow. Having always been condescending toward Melody, she takes over all arrangements, coldly dismissing the younger woman’s suggestions for the funeral and reception. In essence, she is teaching Melody how to be a good little widow. It is only after the services that Hope’s defenses fall, and she warms toward her daughter-in-law, expressing feelings she has kept well hidden.
As Melody continually conjures Craig’s presence, she moves toward acceptance and some form of healing.
Given the play’s shallow limitations, director Brandon Baer does a credible job with the staging and the performances. There is, however, one scene in which Melody dances with her late husband’s assistant, Brad (Khylin Rhambo), that is staged too frenetically and is out of step with the rest of the play. In contrast, the segment during which Hope teaches Melody to dance with the next man she will probably meet has a tenderness that is quietly touching (though it may strike audiences as too much of a departure from Hope’s previous attitude).
Visnic travels her character’s journey convincingly, and her performance is very specific, although she is perhaps too stoic and immobile right after learning of Craig’s death. It might have worked better dramatically if we could watch her start to break down, but that choice may have been a directorial one, and her shattered demeanor after visiting the crash site is very telling.
The most impressive work is done by Bainum, who has admirable stage presence. She manages to lend believability to her character’s unbelievable transition from patronizing bitchiness to aching vulnerability.
Rhambo navigates the part of the assistant, who is smitten with Melody, as ably as can be expected, considering that his character is rather superfluous and does nothing to advance the action. And Knight is a steady, leavening presence in a stock role. Both men manage to imbue their characters with a truthfulness that goes beyond the writing.
Finally, scenic designer Pete Hickok, lighting designer Matthew Denman and sound designer Jesse Mandapat make invaluable contributions to the production.
Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Sawtelle; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Jun. 9. (310) 477-2055 ext. 2 or https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1010034. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
