Stageloft's
‘Sea Marks’ is a
romance with soul
By Paul Kolas Telegram and Gazette Reviewer
February 13, 2007- FOUR STARS
STURBRIDGE— Not only has the winter been unusually kind this year
(so far at least), but the 2007 local theater season has blessed us
with some unusually fine productions. The latest gem is Stageloft
Repertory Theater’s beautifully written and acted presentation of
Gardner McKay’s tender and bittersweet love story, “Sea Marks,” which
cast a quiet spell on Saturday night’s audience.
McKay was originally an actor in the late ’50s and early ’60s, best
known for his stint in a TV series called “Adventures in Paradise.”
Dissatisfied with the celebrity spotlight, he became a world-wide
traveler and eventually settled down to writing novels and two plays,
“Untold Damage” and “Sea Marks.”
“Sea Marks” is a lushly lyrical account of two star-crossed lovers
who rigorously embody the term “opposites attract.” Colm Primrose
is a lifelong fisherman living and working on Cliffhorn Heads, a rustic
island off the west coast of Ireland. Timothea Stiles is an ambitious
young publisher’s assistant in thriving Liverpool. Inspired by a
chance meeting at a friend’s wedding, Colm begins writing florid letters
to Timothea, telling her, “Around here, you don’t see a
girl like that.”
Even though Timothea doesn’t remember meeting Colm at the wedding,
she is entranced by his wonderfully evocative descriptions of the
sea (“The beach isn’t pretty, but it is filled with gray stones that
the sea turns black,”) and reciprocates with details about her life
in Liverpool, working for Mr. Blackstone.
Letters are exchanged over a period of 18 months, distilled into
roughly the opening 20 minutes of the play. It’s a risky, epistolary
device that somehow works because Mark Axelson and Robbin Joyce bring
Colm and Timothea to life during this long-distance courtship.
When they finally meet, the chemistry between the two actors is palpable.
They are convincingly awkward and shy, fumbling their way to something
resembling their letter-written eloquence. Colm is particularly chagrined
about his inability to express himself so poetically eye to eye with
this lovely woman. Timothea, for her part, tries to soothe his nervousness
and lack of confidence by telling him what a natural poet he is.
Once Colm decides to move in with Timothea, the bloom of love begins
to take its toll. Can Colm adjust to life in the big city? As much
as he loves Timothea, and as hard as she tries to make him feel he
belongs with her, going so far as to have the non-personal parts of
his letters to her published as a volume of poetry, can she keep him
from going back to the sea? As Colm confesses to her, his “soul has
been too long off the water.”
But as solemn and pensive as much of “Sea Marks” may be, it’s sprinkled
with abundant wit and humor, including the before and after of their
first love-making encounter. Axelson’s performance is extraordinarily
rich, full of warmth, humor and sad Irish soul. You can feel how torn
he is inside, pulled one way by his love for the sea and the other
by his love for this wonderful woman.
It’s a restlessly brilliant piece of acting, well joined to Joyce’s
luminous portrayal of Timothea. Joyce beautifully conveys both
Timothea’s confidence and vulnerability, as she tries so valiantly
to find a middle ground to make things work between them. To
see two actors work in such remarkable tandem, armed with lilting
dialogue and director Edward Cornely’s steady hand, is exhilarating.
You owe it to yourself to see this wisp of magic.
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