Eleemosynary

Delineating the manner in which psychological and emotional predispositions are handed down from generation to generation is no mean feat, but in Eleemosynary, playwright Lee Blessing accomplishes something far more subtle and enlightening than any clinical study is capable: He captures the essences of three generations of women—a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter—and the thread of their genetically and behaviorially inherited intellectual and personal independence.

In a fortuitous bit of casting that is rare for productions of this piece, the three actresses are all perfectly age appropriate for their roles. As it turns out, this is more than a coincidence, or even a conscious choice, but something more on the order of synchronicity and fate.

(Clockwise) Trina Magness as Artie, Patty Mintz Figel as Dorothea, and Jessica Posner as Echo

David Payne, met all three of the actresses in the same year, 1993, and now, at the behest of the youngest, Jessica Posner, 18, was conscripted to direct the show. So, it was only fitting that Trina Magness and Patty Mintz Figel play her mother and grandmother. This is what Kurt Vonnegut would call a carass—a group of people who have an affinity for each other—and it shows on stage.

In many ways the play is defined by the character of Dorothea, the grandmother. Her mental acuity and strong will, though suppressed for years by her father and her husband, finally comes to the fore when these men have passed from her life.

(L to R) Patty Mintz Figel as Dorothea and Trina Magness as Artie

Patty Mintz Figel is in full command as the eccentric and domineering Dorothea, who fearlessly defines the playing field on which her progeny will be judged, all the while embracing a futuristic spiritualism that makes Shirley Maclaine look like a Republican committeewoman.

Suffering the brunt of this relentless avante-garde matriarchal onslaught is Artie. As the long-suffering object of Dorothea's quest for eternal perfection, she is compelled to get as far away from her mother as possible, while simultaneously living up to impossible academic standards set for her in childhood.

(L to R) Patty Mintz Figel as Dorothea and Jessica Posner as Echo

Trina Magness discovers a unique balance between having the everpresent dread of growing up with someone who is always looking over your shoulder and possessing the personal omniscience of total recall over this same stretch. Her Artie is considerate of others where her mother is not, yet she trembles at having to reach out and touch anyone.

Artie leaves her daughter, Echo (née Barbara), to be raised by Dorothea. As is so often the case, the most prominent qualities of a grandparent skip a generation and ends up with the grandchild, as is the case here. Armed with Dorothea's chutzpah and mental rigor, yet in the total absence of male influence and without the glass ceiling that goes with it, Echo takes aim at the National Spelling Bee.

Spanning the range from infancy to adolescence, Jessica Posner's Echo is refreshingly unselfconscious, as youngsters are wont to be, while possessing the wisdom and sensitivity of an orphaned child far beyond her years—and light years beyond that of her mother and grandmother.

True to the title of the play, this production is of a charitable nature. Posner, a senior honor student at the Denver School of the Arts, is producing this show as a benefit for The Spirituals Project to honor her passion for the uplifting nature of the songs and the work of the non-profit organization in preserving them. She also manages to incorporate a few tunes into her role.

Eleemosynary's final performances are May 5, 6, 8 at 7:30 p.m., and May 7th at 2:00 p.m., in the Bardeen Family Theatre at the Logan School for Creative Learning, 1005 Yosemite Street, Denver. For tickets and more information, call 303-223-4807 or visit www.spiritualsproject.org.

Bob Bows