Photo by Beatrice Casagrán
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
Ophelia’s Jump
Through November 2
Playwright Kelly McBurnette Andronicos’s muddled world premiere work critiques a patriarchal and class-based society that punishes women for actions that men merely receive a mild reprimand for — or walk away from scot-free. The play’s brevity, however, gives short shrift to those themes and her portrayal of the inner workings of an addled brain convolutes an already complex plot line.
Florence Bunny Maybrick (Jenny Buchanan) was an American convicted in Liverpool of the 1899 murder of her wealthy and much older English husband, James. The case was a cause cèlébre and Florence’s death sentence was eventually commuted to a life term, of which she served 15 years. But did she really do it? Andronicus also posits that Maybrick’s death, however it happened, may well have benefitted London at the time.
It is 1941 and Florence is now a prisoner of the poverty resulting from her fall from grace. A recluse, living in a squalid hovel in a small Connecticut town, she downplays her earlier incarceration and has reverted to her birth name of Chandler. Weaving in and out of reality, she is tormented by visages from her checkered past who flitter about her home – and mind. These characters also double as Florence’s myriad cats, sparring and hissing at each other in animal and human form, conspiring at times against Florence or aiding her at others when convenient. You know how cats are.
The Baroness (Billie Bryant) is Florence’s devoted but chiding mother who upheld her daughter’s innocence while The Brother (Jeff Sable), James Maybrick’s pompous and seething sibling, despised Florence and insisted on her guilt. The Lover (Graham Kurtz) is Florence’s passionate revenge for her husband’s countless extramarital affairs, and The Other Wife (Hannah Whiteoak), James’s previous “spouse,” commiserates with Florence over James’s perennial neglect of them both. The Unfortunate Dead (Preston Grant) is a woman emblematic James Maybrick’s assumed misconducts.
Inveigling himself into Florence’s confidence is Theo Voss (Robert Solomon), a baby-faced teen delivering food to her, a charitable service from his nearby boys’ school. That Theo, a poor boy tormented by his wealthier classmates, is chosen to drop off goods for Florence, intensifies his anger at his peers. By exploiting her demented state, Theo quizzes Florence on her past, hoping to advance his odd plan to elevate his status.
Director Beatrice Casagrán’s claustrophobic set, though causing traffic jams at times for her game actors, is emblematic of Florence’s cluttered and confused brain, with characters playfully popping in and out of her closets, oversized trunks, and from under her bed. However, loud offstage banging, representing Theo’s chopping wood or other actions, drowned out some of the ofttimes thick English-accented dialogue.
Ophelia’s Jump, 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, Upland; Thurs., 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3:30 p.m., Sun., 4 p.m. (no perf. Sat., Oct. 26; thru Nov. 3. https://opheliasjump.org. Running time 80 minutes, including 10 minutes intermission.
