by Linda Chin
Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for stage by Nia Vardalos, co-conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, and Nia Vardalos. Directed by Curt Columbus; Set Design by Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design by Amanda Downing Carney; Lighting Design by Dawn Chiang; Sound Design by Peter Sasha Hurowitz; Music Direction by Gunnar Manchester. Presented by Trinity Repertory Theater, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI through February 13th
For some of us theater-loving empaths who’ve been feeling isolated, helpless and theater-deprived these past two years, doing puzzles has been a popular pastime, providing some semblance of calm and control in these socially distanced and socially divided times. My newest addiction is the Wordle puzzle that has taken the internet by storm (Wordle, for the uninitiated, is a daily challenge to correctly guess a five-letter word in six tries, charts your progress, and offers the option to post your results – eg. 5/6 – on social media). Sharing the latter, with friends and/or publicly, sparks virtual “water cooler” conversations and stokes our human desire for connection. So you can imagine my excitement about attending a live performance of the play Tiny Beautiful Things at Trinity Rep, in the company of other living, breathing, and yes, flawed humans.
Trinity Repertory Company Artistic Director Curt Columbus (also the play’s director) is intentional in his season selection. An adaptation of author Cheryl Strayed’s best-seller “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life by Dear Sugar” (by screenwriter Nia Vardalos, of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame), this work is the first subscription series play in almost two years by Trinity Rep, and a smart choice on many levels: a story centering on the importance of listening, empathy and connection, and the struggles and suffering that all humans share at this crazy time in our lives; a play to follow A Christmas Carol, a beloved community staple and big production to mount; and an accomplished, diverse cast. Comprised of longstanding (and outstanding) Resident Acting Company members – Angela Brazil (Sugar), Stephen Berenson, Phyllis Kay, Brian McEleney (Letter Writers), fellow Equity actors and relative Trinity Rep newcomers Marcel Mascaro and Jenna Lea Scott (Letter Writers), and current MFA acting student at Brown/Trinity Rep Gunnar Manchester (Music Director) the cast shines as individuals and as an ensemble.
Walking into the theater and seeing an old-fashioned post office as the set (designed by Barton Pugh), I admit to feeling surprised by the change (typically the story is set in Sugar’s homey home office rather than a sterile public institution). I was also overwhelmed by its scale and stuffiness at first (acknowledging that my perspective may have been colored by Gloucester Playhouse’s open-air production set in the woods last summer). As the play progressed, however, and the stage became populated with letter writers giving voice to the voluminous number of hand-written letters I grew more comfortable. And in one particularly poignant scene, when a letter writer (Marcel Mascaro) added more focus and intimacy to their story by turning on an incandescent green-shaded banker’s desk lamp, I became more convinced that the set and its trimmings were ‘delivering’ in support of the storytelling.
The play is structured as a series of stories, a back-and-forth of letters – dozens and dozens of letters that cover the spectrum of life’s many phases (childhood, love, marriage, parenting, aging) – range from humorous to tragic, bravely written and beautifully told by the Letter Writers. Sugar’s empathetic replies, are kind, forgiving, confidence-building, non-judgmental and reveal emotionally devastating experiences from her own life. The stories and actors’ portrayals elicited audible laughter (Jenna Lea Scott, “What the F**k!”), and my theatre companion and I (and likely many other audience members) had tears running down our faces during one of the final scenes, a heartbreaking letter from a father whose son was killed by a drunk driver and has lost the will to live.
At the end of performance I attended, the audience burst into applause and gave the cast a well-deserved standing ovation. But in writing this review, I must add that one of the big, beautiful things about this production is that it’s one of those gifts that keeps giving, its stories and storytellers are seared into our memory long after we leave the theatre.
P.S. I got my first 2/6 in Wordle a few days after the performance. The winning word: SUGAR.
For tickets and information, go to: https://www.trinityrep.com/
