From the time we become aware of our humanity, we understand that our decisions will affect our lives, though we can’t control how. But what if we could know how our decisions will affect our lives and those around us? Could we change anything? Would we still want to make those decisions?
“The Violet Hour” by Richard Greenberg explores these questions in the form of a two-act play centering on the lives of five people in a Manhattan office tower.
Aspiring publisher John Pace Seavering (Adam Hale) and his flamboyant and neurotic assistant Gidger (Sean Gray) trade lines with the choreography of a title fight in the 1919 era the play is set in.
There is an odd foreboding in looking at these happy and prosperous characters, and knowing that in 10 short years, an economic depression and a war that will overshadow The Great War will hit these characters like a ton of bricks. But they are blissfully unaware, and so they proceed.
The play’s journey through time begins on the eve that Seavering publishes his first novel, entitled “The Violet Hour.” The trouble is whether to publish the novel by long-winded but sincere old friend Denny (Alex Walters) or by black jazz singer and Seavering’s lover, Jessie (Doshanna Bell).
For both characters, the publishing of their book would make their dreams possible. Denny’s dream is marrying his love interest Rosamund, played with ’20s style class by Caitlyn Tella, and Jessie’s dream is recognition in the still heavily segregated world that she lived in.
But what does this have to do with knowing the future? Between the desperation, taboo relationships and humor, an unseen machine has arrived at the office, which at first does little more than squawk and grind, then begins spewing out multicolored paper at a great speed. Director Sharyn Case has done a wonderful job at creating dramatics as the colored paper has a delightfully sharp contrast in the black and white world that we imagine as the 1920s.
The glory of “The Violet Hour” is its transformation from 1920s style stock character acting, where players like Tella and Gray fill out stereotypical socialite and assistant characters, to reach a more profound state.
Hale spends a majority of the play on stage, giving body to the character of Seavering and provides a well of emotions from which to drink. His decision to be indecisive as a character keeps the play from becoming stale during some of the slower moments.
Walters and Bell become fascinating characters because they are so alike. Both have an emotional attachment and dependence to Seavering, while requiring him to break the heart and dreams of the other. This is not done with malice, but rather superbly acted quiet desperation. The emotion behind their performances causes a greater conflict than “Twilight’s” Edward and Jacob, both for the audience and for Seavering.
“The Violet Hour” is the sort of play that comes along once in a while to stretch the human imagination and tug the tender heartstrings. Like opportunity, it is wise to not let this play slip through your fingers.
“The Violet Hour” is playing at the Long Beach Playhouse now, through August 7. For ticket information go to www.lbplayhouse.org.
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