By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
Gus (Gordon Clapp) the retired school custodian and Pru Payne (Mimi Kennedy) a sophisticated media personality are both suffering memory loss, but they do enjoy the present with each other.
A rousing standing ovation immediately greeted the opening night performance by the Arizona Theatre Company for its world premiere production of “Pru Payne” by playwright Steve Drukman, whose earlier play “Another Fine Mess” was nominated for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
"Pru Payne” was also a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation's New Play Awards for 2022-2023. Cast in the title role is veteran actor Mimi Kennedy, best known for her extended television appearances over several seasons in “Mom” and “Dharma & Greg.” Her films include Woody Allen's “Midnight in Paris.”
Playing opposite Kennedy is the equally experienced Gordon Clapp, who appeared as Detective Greg Medavoy in all 12 seasons of “NYPD Blue.” His film credits include “Eight Men Out” and “Matewan.” He plays garrulous Gus, who also has an adult son, Art (Greg Maraio).
Pru is described as an esteemed critic widely recognized as a wit, a scholar and a public intellectual. Sophistication could be her middle name. Her adult son Thomas (Tristan Turner) has always lived in his mother's shadow.
But now their roles are changing, as we quickly learn Pru's memory seems to be fading and Thomas is leading her to hospital appointments with Dr. Dolan (Veronika Duerr). We also learn Pru would prefer to be called by her birth name, Prudence. But her public loves to call her Pru, so Pru it always is.
In the hospital's community room, Pru meets garrulous Gus. He's a retired school custodian who faithfully drove the bus on all the school's field trips. He is also losing his memory, but Pru is an audience for his stories. And she also admires his hands. He has no idea who Pru used to be. He prefers to call her Prudence.
As the playwright, Drukman wants to explore how much our past professional lives affect our own image of ourselves. Are we really who we are, or are we mostly reflections of what other people think we are.
Directed by Sean Daniels, Pru and Gus do all the heavy lifting in this tale of shifting identities, and do it beautifully. Kennedy is filling her performance with such delicate layers of nuance, we can almost see Pru's professional personality slowly leave her body.
The less she remembers who she was, the more she values what she is becoming, even when it also frightens her.
Gus is the down-to-earth practical one, unassuming, lacking any concern for Pru's fame or fields of interest. But he is an absolute expert for intuitively knowing what lost little children look like and sound like, which he responds to in Prudence.
Meanwhile their conversations gradually meet their feelings on a sliding scale of personal values while sharing TV shows, and the channel changer, in the community room. Mixed in with their comments are pop culture references from the 1980s to the 20-teens, including a jazz joke comparing Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Kenny G.
As Pru's mind forgets more, she begins to see the old television shows in new ways, with different values. Meanwhile Gus becomes more of a leader, encouraging Pru to live less in her mind and more in her feelings. Though both continue losing touch with their own versions of the past, they are growing to depend more on each other.
“Pru Payne” runs through March 25 in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., with performances at 7:30 Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays. For details and reservations, phone 833-ATC-SEAT or visit www.atc.org
Tickets are $25-$85. ATC's current COVID protocol recommends but does not require wearing masks in the theater.
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