In “Still,” a meditation on old love and new conflicts
Can a long-ago romance be rekindled? Lia Romeo’s new play examines the lengths—and limitations—of enduring attraction.
Two people, countless differences Mark Moses and Melissa Gilbert share passion but not their ideologies.
BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK
“I have tears in my eyes,” my companion said, as the lights came up and the stars of Still—Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie, Secrets & Lies) and Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives, Mad Men)—took their bows. In a mere hour we’d been marched over extensive ground, from the impersonal aspects of modern dating to a health crisis and hot-button political issues.
Plucky play in the city The Insider’s Deborah Skolnik with Still star Melissa Gilbert (who also played Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie).
A man and woman stand at the trailhead of this often-rocky terrain. Mark and Helen, two people at the tail end of middle age, are hanging out in a hotel lounge nursing a bottle of wine. At first, they seem to be on a blind date; their awkward opening banter is mostly of the “tell me about YOU” kind. (Mark is an attorney; Helen a “somewhat” well-known author.) As the minutes pass, however, it becomes evident they have known each other for much of their lives.
The dialogue, which artfully resists over-explanation, indicates the two were once a couple whose relationship met a complicated end. Insinuations of disappointment and long-simmering resentment stipple their conversation. When Helen asks Mark, “Are you on Tinder?” her blithe tone barely masks an accusatory intent. She herself has denounced her sexuality and eventually blurts out the reason why, drawing sorrowful sighs from the audience.
Mark, ardent, is undeterred. As he and Helen head upstairs to his room, he laughingly points out her oversized tote, which she admits is full of odds and ends she never gets around to culling. In hindsight this appears to be a metaphor, as both she and Mark carry around copious baggage they’ll soon unpack.
Strange bedfellows A tender moment turns tense as the couple begins to spar.
Unlike the lounge, the set for the Mark’s room is bounded by walls—walls that begin to close in. While he and Helen readily accept each other’s physical imperfections, neither can abide what they perceive as the other’s flawed stances on sensitive subjects, most of which also divide Americans today. Dark humor cuts deep when Helen complains that Mark didn’t reveal his convictions earlier, as though he ought to have filled out an ideological questionnaire before he dared to so much as kiss her. Soon, Helen reveals what’s in that oversized bag of hers, and the way in which she does so renders her the less sympathetic of the two characters.
Boyfriend material? Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives, Mad Men) yearns to win back his former love in Still.
This tension is overlaid with a nearly smothering blanket of anxiety. The audience is keenly aware that Helen and Mark have a limited amount of time to move on from their differences, and not solely because of Mark’s travel schedule. Helen pointedly informs Mark she is a very slow writer, having taken seven years to complete her last book. Is she ready now to begin a new chapter and meet Mark halfway? As the couple teeters between happiness and hopelessness, there’s something to make everyone watching feel by turns righteous and uncomfortable. Still, it turns out, is deeply moving.
8-week engagement starting Thursday, Feb 6 at 6:30 p.m.; Regular performance schedule Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 6:00 p.m., matinees Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.; Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, 18 Bleecker St., New York, NY; $39-$99; To purchase tickets, click here.