Arts & Entertainment
Mistakes of memory
Tight ‘Old Times’ production explores longing and frustration
Both Kate’s husband and her closest female friend want to possess her and her past.
Obsessed with memories, the rivals have shaped recollections stressing their respective importance in Kate’s life. Whether their stories are even a little bit true is unclear, but in Harold Pinter’s enigmatic “Old Times,” now in production at Shakespeare Theatre Company, veracity takes a back seat to the power of relationships and the mistiness of memory.
Seated in the starkly white living room of their quiet seaside home, Deeley (Steven Culp), a successful filmmaker, and his beautiful wife Kate (Tracy Lynn Middendorf) discuss the imminent visit of Anna (Holly Twyford), an old friend whom Kate hasn’t seen in 20 years and her husband has never met. In fact, Deeley knows precious little about Anna, and the tidbits his wife has offered — that Anna is not only her oldest but also her only friend; that they were once flat mates in London; that she used to steal Kate’s underpants – have done nothing to endear her to him.
Anna arrives. Over drinks (and cigarettes), she and Deeley genteelly set to battle while Kate curled up on the couch like a cat looks on rather amusedly. Initially Anna – witty and sociable — recounts the fun times she and Kate shared as single young women in London. In reply, Deeley relays how he first met Kate at a grungy cinema where they’d both gone to see the aptly titled “Odd Man Out.” Anna remembers things differently. She says she saw the film with Kate but Deeley wasn’t there. Eventually, the conversation escalates into a heated contest of who knows Kate best. They even compete in singing the half-forgotten lyrics of Kate’s favorite old songs.
When Kate leaves the room to bathe, Deeley says he remembers Anna from their London days. He claims they drank at the same pub, and one night he even peeked up her skirt at a party. Initially Anna says it can’t be true, but then changes her tune, admitting she was at the party wearing Kate’s underwear. What to believe? At one point Anna says, “There are some things one remembers even though they may never have happened.”
While Deeley’s stories about Kate are tinged with sex (he tends to objectify her), Anna’s intimate moments/memories are more gentle — she strokes Kate’s arm while asking if she might draw her bath or read aloud to her. Anna now lives as expat with her husband in Sicily, or so she says. Here, very little is for certain. But clearly she was at one time — or still is — in love with Kate and Kate seems to respond positively to her expressions of tenderness. Feeling relegated to third wheel status, Deeley grows increasingly angry and is ultimately reduced to heaving sobs.
Impeccably staged by Shakepeare’s gay artistic director Michael Kahn, the production is taut and very funny. The three-person cast is first rate. Making her debut at Shakespeare, Twyford (who is also gay) handles the brief, precise Pinter dialogue beautifully, and rather hilariously fills the playwright’s well-known pauses with expectant frozen smiles.
Jane Greenwood’s costumes nicely illustrate Anna and Kate’s differences: In addition to a slick chignon, the former wears a rather severe dress with a bow at her throat while the latter’s casual peach clothes and loose-fitting pink robe describe a softer, less dramatic person. Deeley is appropriately tweedy as the accomplished documentarian relaxing away from town.
Walt Spangler’s bright white set makes a perfect blank slate on which to scribble and erase memories, real and imagined.
Blog #1: I was excited about my trip even though Gate 1 Travel notified me there was a change in the itinerary. France decided to close the Burgundy canal for long overdue repairs, so we would be traveling on the C. du Rhone au Rhin. I boarded my Air France flight arriving in Paris on time. Contrary to what I was told to expect, customs went really smoothly.
Day 1: Because customs went quickly, I waited 45 minutes for my pre-arranged driver, to take me to the Gare de Lyon, where I boarded my fast-train to Lyon. A two-hour trip. In Lyon it was a long walk to the hotel, The Radisson Blu, but only because I exited the station on the wrong side. Finally got there, checked into a room on the 36th floor with a spectacular view of Lyon. Then took a stroll around the area, a short nap, and finally it was time for dinner and to meet the rest of the traveling party. There would only be 13 of us in the group. Five of us from D.C./Rehoboth, and eight others. I met our guide Patricia, who is from Portugal, and spoke fluent French and English. She is charming, and clearly very knowledgeable. She worked with Gate 1 for many years. We stayed at the hotel for our welcome dinner. It was a great meal, and over drinks, each of us was asked to introduce ourselves to the group. Aside from the five of us, there were three women traveling alone, one gentleman alone, and two couples. They were from New Jersey, New York, Florida, Houston, and Nebraska. I was sitting across from the woman from Nebraska. Conversation at dinner was pleasant but I quickly realized one person was apparently a MAGA. Wonder if you can guess where she was from, lol. But we also found if we didn’t talk politics, which we agreed not to do, things were fine. After dinner we all headed to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.
DAY 2: We woke to beautiful weather. I headed to the included breakfast at the hotel, which was really very good. After breakfast we boarded a bus for a tour of Lyon. We had a full-size bus for just the 13 of us. Our guide for the half day tour, was Vincent, and he is charming and young, and told us his fiancé lives in Lyon. He was incredibly knowledgeable. We began at the Basilica, which is being repaired on the outside, but the inside is, wow! Incredible stained glass, and there was a service going on in one of the smaller side chapels which I l listened to for a bit. The Basilica is high on the hill and the views of Lyon are spectacular from there. Then we headed to the old city and walked around for an hour, ending up at the smaller cathedral. Directly in front of it they had set up a great market, mostly food, which would be there for a week. Lyon is a foodie paradise, with, we were told, a restaurant, or at least coffee shop, for every 250 people. We then had a choice of staying in town, or going back to the hotel on the bus, which I did. The afternoon and evening were free time to do as we pleased. I headed to the Les Halles du Lyon Paul Bocuse, named after the famous chef, to take a look around. It is a large market with small restaurants connected to most of the stalls. It was charming. I then headed to the huge three-story mall across from our hotel and walked around for an hour. Then caught up on some emails, and writing, and met my friends, Paul and Martin, John and Dan, for dinner at 6. We went to a really nice Bistro, which John had found, two tram stops away from the hotel, and enjoyed some drinks and a relaxed dinner. The owner of the place found us a waitress who spoke great English, which made ordering really easy. After a two-hour great meal, we headed back to the hotel. Riding a tram in Lyon is easy, you just need to use your credit card. It is an honor system. Back at the hotel I headed to my room and packed, our luggage had to be outside the door by 8:00 am the next morning. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I had time to eat at the buffet breakfast. Then it was on the bus to head to our barge.
Baltimore
This John Waters interview has been edited for readability — but perhaps not human decency
Pope of Trash dishes on Trump, plane etiquette, last meal, and more
By WESLEY CASE | At 80 years old, John Waters is still the ideal dinner guest — incisively sharp, quick-witted and funny as hell.
The chic Baltimore native proved it again and again in a recent Zoom interview, calling from his summer home in Provincetown, Mass.
The occasion was the Blu-ray releases of two of his movies — the 1977 dark comedy “Desperate Living” and his enduring 1988 musical “Hairspray” — on June 23 by the Criterion Collection, which publishes restorations of films it deems culturally important. The Criterion stamp of approval has become the gold standard among cinephiles.
“It’s like getting an award,” said Waters, who wrote and directed both films.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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