From the very beginning of Lia Romeo’s new play being presented by Colt Coeur, it’s apparent that the two characters onstage really enjoy being with each other. They’re Helen and Mark, long-ago lovers who are now reuniting in a sleek hotel bar after not seeing each other for nearly thirty years. And by the time Still reaches its poignant conclusion an efficient 75 minutes later, we’ve come to really enjoy being in their company as well.
It’s not surprising, considering that they’re played by Jayne Atkinson and Tim Daly, two extremely talented veteran performers who have graced our stages for decades, not to mention their many television and film appearances. Seeing them perform this verbal pax de deux in the intimate confines of the D2 Theatre is a particular treat.
The conversation, accompanied by twinkly piano music, at first proceeds exactly as you’d expect, with the two former lovers catching up with each other’s lives. Mark is a recently divorced, successful lawyer with three grown daughters who is now living in Colorado and considering a run for Congress. Helen, a successful novelist with five books to her credit, one of which made the New York Times bestseller list, has never married or had children. She makes her home in Baltimore, where the couple is meeting while he’s there on business.
Except he’s really not, as he eventually confesses. He came there purposely to see her, and we quickly understand why when he impulsively gives her a passionate kiss. In the next scene, they’ve retired to his hotel room where they enjoy a clearly passionate dalliance. But the post-coital bliss doesn’t last long, as revelations as well as bodies get bared.
To reveal more would be too much of a spoiler. Suffice it to say that Mark had yet another purpose in mind when coming to see Helen, one involving his burgeoning political fortunes. But what the playwright really wants to explore is the way our political and social beliefs can potentially hopelessly divide people even if they obviously love each other.
It’s a heavy theme, one that these days seems more relevant than ever, and the playwright isn’t always successful in dramatizing it persuasively. But even when the proceedings aren’t entirely convincing, they’re nonetheless engrossing and entertaining to thanks to her gift for well-drawn characters and incisive dialogue. Not to mention frequent doses of hearty humor that ranges from sophisticated to silly, the latter illustrated during a heated argument when Helen reaches into her oversized bag and throws a series of objects at Mark.
“Did you just throw an avocado at me?” he asks with a look of bafflement. “Yeah,” she replies. “And a package of macadamia nuts. And a ukulele.”
Along the way, there are many wonderful moments, such as the two scantily clad lovers engaging in a funny verbal duel over their respective bodily defects. (It’s refreshing to see mature sexuality depicted onstage in matter-of-fact fashion.) And many insightful ones, as when Mark, admitting how he’s gotten more conservative in his beliefs, explains, “Lots of people do…they get more pragmatic as they get older.”
Atkinson and Daly, delivering a master class in chamber-style acting, are so natural and appealing that you can’t help rooting for their characters to overcome their differences, while Adrienne Campbell-Holt’s smartly unobtrusive direction lets them and the material shine. In their expert hands, Still emerges as an unexpected, small-scale gem.
Still opened April 18, 2024, at DR2 Theater and runs through May 18. Tickets and information: coltcoeur.org
