Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

When a person experiences a traumatic occurrence, two options generally emerge as a method of coping with the aftermath: embrace it whole-heartedly or bury it completely.  Either way, life goes on and this decision plays an integral role in the balance of that person’s life. 

Alchemy Theatre Company of Manhattan’s quality production of Flight richly addresses this choice by delicately sharing the experience of a Holocaust survivor who loses the power to make these elections for herself as Alzheimer’s draws her into a new battle.

The story opens as Andrew (Jonathan Walker) works to get his mother situated into her new apartment in an assisted living community.  His mother Judith (Maria Tucci), a former college film professor, playfully quizzes him about his current girlfriend and his work as an investment banker.

Shortly after getting settled in, Judith is welcomed to her new home by the facility’s activity coordinator, Linda (Maddie Corman).  The two quickly become friends and stories of Judith’s unknown past as a Holocaust survivor slowly starts to eke out via Alzheimer-induced episodes.

Andrew, sensing something’s not right with his mother, reaches out and befriends Linda.  Through ongoing conversations, Linda shares what she’s learned of Judith’s secret, painful, past, as dementia quickly gains ground.  Running out of time, Andrew turns to his mother directly to learn the truth and attempts to find out why she kept these secrets from him before the answers are gone forever.

Linda, played by Maddie Corman, powers the engine of the play.  Her character’s presence provides a much-needed lift to the tone of the show.  Luckily for her, she also scores some of the production’s best writing.  One particularly winning moment occurs when she describes advanced dementia patients not as vegetables, but as soldiers and explorers tackling a new frontier in their minds.  It is a fresh, inspirational way of looking at the disease, and she lands this dialogue expertly without being sanctimonious.

As Judith, Ms. Tucci’s performance takes viewers on a rich journey.  From the moment that we meet her to the show’s closing exchange with Andrew, her discipline as an actress is on full display when we voyeuristically watch the disease cause her to deteriorate before our eyes.

Jonathan Walker’s work as Andrew is solid.  Unfortunately, the structure of much of the script causes him to be stuck with the thankless job of being the foil to Judith and Linda’s larger, more robust personalities.

Michel Wallerstein’s script raises some really thoughtful themes.  In addition to providing a new way of looking at Alzheimer’s, the play also highlights the irreplaceable things the disease steals; memories, family oral histories, and the sadly obvious degrading of the patient’s personality and capacities.

The piece stumbles a bit following Andrew and Judith’s final climatic exchange where the family’s secrets are revealed.  This scene is thrilling, but then it is followed up by a series of small vignettes that unnecessarily serve to wrap up the play. These efforts feel like an afterthought and are not necessary to conclude what was an otherwise satisfying culmination of the play.

The direction by Padraic Lillis makes great use of the DR 2’s minimal performing space, effectively creating numerous locales within a singular studio apartment.  With a running time of just under an hour and a half, the tempo of the piece moves along at a nice clip.  However, one might hope that Lillis would inject a little more humor along the way to allow the audience a moment to catch it’s breath against the weight of the play’s subject matter.