STAGE REVIEW : ‘Square’: In the Eye of a Marital Hurricane

If Ingmar Bergman hadn’t already claimed it, “Scenes From a Marriage” would be a much better title than “Abingdon Square” for Maria Irene Fornes’ play at San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lyceum Space.

And the emphasis should be on the “Scenes,” not the “Marriage.”

Writer/director Fornes presents 32 brief scenes from a very hollow marriage, separated by time-passes blackouts which distance the audience from the characters almost as much as they distance each scene from the next.

The play covers nine years, from 1908 to 1917. At the beginning, Marion (Elizabeth Clemens) is only 15, on the verge of marriage to Juster (Julian Lopez-Morillas), who is 35 years her senior. He has been her steadfast companion since her parents died--and since his wife died. Marriage seemed the next logical step.

Or so we’re told. Actually, the pivotal events that take place before the play begins are difficult to swallow, given this man’s grave personality and this girl’s friskiness. We can only assume she was not in a position to say no (though later we realize she has money of her own)--and that it was precisely her high spirits which attracted him in the first place.

At any rate, the mismatch is evident from the very first scene. Marion plays with her new stepson Michael (Bray Poor), who is her age, more than with her husband. When she talks about her love for Juster in the second scene, her speech has a quality that even she admits is “studied.” There is never the slightest sign of sexual intimacy between husband and wife.

Marion believes she’s not even supposed to think about sex, as we learn in a very funny conversation with her cousin Mary (Giselle Rubino). But she soon loses her inhibitions and starts imagining a lover--who then materializes in the form of the mysterious Frank (Richard Ortega). And she sheds even more restraint one afternoon when a glazier (Andres Monreal) asks for a drink of water.

A baby (Anthony Wisneski--yes, a real baby) and marital hurricanes are the results.

At times Fornes appears to reach for operatic effect. Kiri Te Kanawa and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sing Strauss on the sound track. In one bizarre scene, Marion recites Dante in the attic, with her hands tied to a dangling rope, her toes barely touching the ground. Apparently she’s trying to whip her mind into shape, the better to carry off her prematurely adult responsibilities. The final scenes involve gunshots, thunder and fiery red lighting.

The brevity of the scenes is cinematic more than operatic, however, and much of the play’s intensity is diffused in the process. The unspoken thoughts create some wonderfully sly moments, but ultimately the play covers too much time and carries too much emotional baggage to accommodate all those ellipses. The final impression is that we’ve witnessed a tantalizing formal exercise, from afar.

This is an odd feeling to carry away from such an intimate drama. There are no broad canvases here, no subplots to divert our attention from the central story. Because Fornes strips away most of the world outside the rooms where the action takes place, it should fit well into the Lyceum Space, the smaller of San Diego Rep’s theaters.

Yet the Space’s current proscenium configuration (minus an actual proscenium) creates more problems than it solves. The stage is wide and shallow, which tends to flatten out the play itself, aggravating its worst tendencies.

There are no problems with the two leads, though. Clemens has a lustrous look that makes Juster’s attraction more credible, but as the years go by we can see the aging process set in. Her moments of self-discovery seem to happen right before our eyes.

Lopez-Morillas maintains an unrelenting gravity until he finally begins to crack. It’s a frightening spectacle.

Poor never seems as young as his playmate Clemens, and there is no budding sexual chemistry between the two of them, though it’s not clear if Fornes intends any. Unfortunately, the sparks between Ortega’s mystery man and Clemens aren’t all that vivid, either.

Tubert contributes a few evocative moments as Marion’s good-hearted aunt. She is the only cast member to speak English with a Spanish accent; one wonders if any of the others will speak Spanish with a norteamericano accent when they do the play in Spanish in some of the later performances.

“Abingdon Square/La Plaza Chica,” Lyceum Space, Horton Plaza, San Diego, Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Spanish performances this Sunday, 7 p.m.; Jan. 31, Feb. 8-9. Ends Feb. 9. $19-$22. (619) 235-8025. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

‘Abingdon Square’

Elizabeth Clemens:Marion/Mariela

Julian Lopez-Morillas:Juster/Justin

Bray Poor:Michael/Miguel

Richard Ortega:Frank

Giselle Rubino:Mary/Maria

Myriam Tubert:Minnie/Mini

Andres Monreal:A Glazier/Un Vidriero

Anthony Wisneski:Thomas/Tomas

A San Diego Repertory Theatre production. Written and directed by Maria Irene Fornes. Sets Robert Brill. Costumes Jack Taggart. Lights Anne Militello. Stage manager Susan A. Virgilio.