Firebox Theatre Company’s exceptional production of Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1921 drama, Anna Christie, vibrates with a tense underhum.
Director Zachary Roberts has assembled a talented cast. The lead trio scrapes against each other like sandpaper, succeeding in rubbing emotions raw to elevate the play’s intensity.
O’Neill gives us characters who have fought mostly losing battles with life; they are battered souls, using alcohol and other means of escape to survive their own aching loneliness. They are seeking love and forgiveness, both from others and themselves.
The plot revolves around Anna, abandoned by her seafaring father some 15 years ago. Having been exploited by family relatives on a farm where she lived after the death of her mother, she is forced to use her body to survive on her own.. It is 1912, and she has arrived at a New York City waterfront bar to reunite with her father.. She’s seeking sanctuary, a bit of respite.
Joining him on the coal barge he now captains, Anna begins to feel revived, refreshed by the sea. Their fraught reunion is interrupted when an Irish sailor is rescued and immediately falls madly in love with Anna. Both men seek to shield her with their love and possess her to keep her safe. But this protection leads to conflict and shattering revelations that leave all reeling with pain and shame.
Hilary Edwards interpretation of Anna, a 20-year-old woman who seems far older, effectively oscillates between a brittle bitterness and restrained hopefulness. Edwards not only reflects Anna’s profound pain in her face and body, she channels the fury of being exploited into a bold courageousness that steers the character away from sentimentality and into a riveting performance. This Anna will be independent and accepted on her terms.
Equally commanding performances are offered by Michael Foley and Tim Artz. As Old Chris, Anna’s weatherbeaten Swedish father, Foley elevates what could be a tiresome caricature of a sodden sailor, into a moving portrayal of a man who truly believes he was doing the right thing for his daughter. Foley seems genuinely remorseful when he hears how badly awry his character’s intentions went. He commands the stage like the captain of a boat, with bluster and bravado.
In the role of the Irish stoker who loves Anna, Mat Burke, Artz conveys a rollicking brawniness, coupled with a boisterous romanticism, that makes it easyto see why Anna can’t resist him.And when his fury is unleashed, like the sea, he rages with every fiber of his body. He is a force to be reckoned with in every scene.
Indeed, the forcefulness of the acting drives the power of O’Neill’s words. While the scenes between Anna and her father bristle with all the angry grievances a child would have against an absent parent, and the interactions of Chris and Mat surge with intense male rivalry, the scenes between Anna and Mat explode with emotion. Mat has to wrestle with not wanting to love her after her revelations, but not able to stop. Though the play ends on a hopeful note, there’s still an air of uncertainty for the future of these characters.
From Kristin Obman’s sparse evocative set that utilizes wooden shipping boxes to morph from a bar to rooms on a barge, to the realistic sound design of Tim Artz and remarkable lighting effects by Michael Burris, the staging of this production contributes to the moodiness of the drama. Brenda Holden and Cara Hemphill’s costumes, along with the work of dialect coach Danica Jackson, contribute to the authenticity of the characters.
Firebox Theatre Company’s production not only illuminates O’Neill’s brilliance as a playwright, it is also a testament to the high quality of theater in the area.
Anna Christie plays through June 2. For more information visit https://www.fireboxtheatre.com/.
