Theater Review : ‘Crimson Thread’ a Familiar Family Tale

“The Crimson Thread,” the title of the newest production at the Pasadena Playhouse, refers to the tie that binds three generations of Irish sisters. As it turns out, the thread also binds playwright Mary Hanes’ tale to many, many other immigrant stories and stitches them into one gigantic cliche.

Hanes seems somehow so innocent of the staleness of her dialogue that at times the play almost achieves a childlike freshness. Almost. One can spend the entire evening anticipating the exact phrasing of the next emotional outburst. There are three acts, three pairs of sisters, three tragedies. A gold locket is handed down from generation to generation. A little bit of history. Lots of tears. Strength, courage, love. Separation, reunion. A civics lesson. The play is a TV guide synopsis.

More specifically: Act I. Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, 1869. Two sisters recall starving in the famine when they were little (sisters are always telling each other of events they both already know about in this play). Bridget (Kathleen Noone), a rebel sympathizer, says, “We need the right to own our own land!” And, “Is my soul too high a price to pay to ensure that my children will be free?” Also: “The doctor bills are adding up.”

Eilis (Stephanie Zimbalist) helps Bridget with money but doesn’t approve of her radicalism. She says, “You’re as much a part of me as my legs and my arms.”

Eilis’ husband in America has sent for her, but she doesn’t want to leave her homeland (she knows “every square inch of it!”). She also doesn’t want to leave her sister. “If I leave ya,” she tells Bridget, “I will always hear the call of blood!”

Bridget comforts her. “Don’t you know I’ll always be with you?” she says. “I’ll be the brightest moon that lights up your sky!” They cry.

Act II. New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1889. Kathleen (Shanna Reed), Eilis’ daughter, has lost her husband in a storm at sea. Her sister Fionnuala (Zimbalist) tells her, “It seems everyone in town has been touched by this tragedy.” She tells Kathleen something Kathleen probably already knows: “You, you lost your only child.” Then she asks Kathleen to tell her once more the story of the family’s voyage to America. Kathleen does. “We were all so full of dreams!” she says. They cry.

Act III. New York City, 1911. Could this scene have something to do with the Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire? This time Fionnuala’s daughter, Maggie (Noone), is a union organizer. Coincidentally, she lives on the same block where her grandfather did when he first arrived in the United States: “I guess we both came to New York searching for something.” She’s also an atheist: “Where was God on March 25?”

Her sister Nora (Reed) disapproves. “Life has made you hard,” she says.

But Maggie insists: “I live for the union! I dream for the union!”

Nora asks, “Do I have to walk a picket line to get you to care about me?” There is some crying.

Thomas M. Cariello’s set is handsome, and lighting designer Gene Lenahan does some nice things with clouds. Otherwise, director Dan Lauria gets performances appropriate to an early Sunday evening TV movie for the whole family, which is perhaps where “The Crimson Thread” belongs. As drama, it could as well have been called “The Cookie Cutter.” * “The Crimson Thread,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, Tuesday-Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 5 and 9 p.m., Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 23. $33.50. (818) 3 5 6-PLAY or TicketMaster, (213) 480-3232 . Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Stephanie Zimbalist: Eilis, Fionnuala

Kathleen Noone: Bridget, Maggie

Shanna Reed: Kathleen, Nora

A Pasadena Playhouse production, in association with Peter Gatieu, Dan Lauria, Kathleen Noone, Shanna Reed, Stephanie Zimbalist. By Mary Hanes. Directed by Dan Lauria. Sets by Thomas M. Cariello. Lights by Gene Lenahan. Costumes by Donna Trelford Fontana. Sound by Jack Nardi. Production stage manager Tammy Taylor.