The plays of Annie Baker — frequently marked by long pauses, seemingly endless silent interludes, and an absence of anything remotely resembling a plot — at times seem designed for theatergoers who find Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter too frenetic. It’s a distinctive theatrical style that sometimes pays off (The Flick, John) and sometimes doesn’t (The Antipodes). It’s on ample display in her new drama, a co-production of Atlantic Theater Company and England’s National Theatre, in which the actors mostly speak in flat monotones devoid of inflection, barely mustering up the energy to project their voices.
Of course, in this case there’s a viable reason for that. The six characters in Infinite Life are all suffering from serious illnesses, and some of them are in constant pain. They’re also on a regimen of energy-draining fasts, limited to green smoothie drinks that don’t look like they’d stave off hunger pangs. It’s no wonder you can barely hear what they’re saying at times.
That doesn’t explain why you also can’t always see them, with long sections of the play taking place in such near-total darkness that only a bat could discern what’s happening. As if to compensate, director James Macdonald bathes some scenes in such blinding light that you’ll find yourself reaching for your sunglasses.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
If I’m going on at length about the production’s style rather than its substance, that’s because the latter proves rather thin. Set in an alternative medicine facility in northern California, the play concerns four older women — Eileen (Marylouise Burke), Yvette (Mia Katigbak), Ginnie (Kristine Nielsen), and Elaine (Brenda Pressley) — and a new arrival, 47-year-old Sofi (Christina Kirk) — who are all suffering from various serious ailments, including autoimmune disease, chronic pain, cancer, thyroid and bladder problems, and, in the case of Yvette, just about every illness known to man. At one point she delivers a long monologue about the health issues that have plagued her ever since she had a C-section that would make Job blush with embarrassment over ever having complained.
Most of the play is taken up with casual conversations among the women as they relax on lounge chairs and discuss their health conditions in sometimes uncomfortably graphic detail (you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know about the number of sphincters in the human body), with the passage of time ruefully announced by Sofi in the play’s only, disconcerting example of fourth-wall breaking.
Some dramatic tension is created by the arrival of Nelson (Pete Simpson), who is close to Sofi’s age and causes a bit of stir among the women by constantly walking around shirtless. It becomes clear that Sofi, who is currently estranged from her husband as a result of an “emotional affair” she had with a co-worker, is attracted to the facility’s new patient. But the sexual tension isn’t exactly titillating, since Nelson can barely be bothered to look at her or anyone else to whom he’s speaking. Things do heat up briefly, however, when Sofi asks to see his colonoscopy photos, which in this context constitutes foreplay.
Infinite Life explores numerous themes related to aging, illness, and our relationships with our inevitably failing bodies. Much of it will certainly resonate, especially with audiences of a certain age, and Baker leavens the grimness of the proceedings with frequent dashes of deadpan mordant humor. But with the exception of Sofi, we only get to know the characters superficially, with the result that we begin to form an almost clinical detachment about them. The playwright reserves the most powerful scene for the end, in which Sofi and Eileen engage in a movingly confessional discussion, but by then our patience has been sorely tested.
The ensemble is composed of a gallery of estimable theatrical pros, but they have so little to work with that even such normally standout performers as Burke and Nielsen barely make an impression. Although Burke does provide some suspense merely by walking from one end of the stage to the other in such slow, plodding fashion that you begin to wonder if she’ll make it. Kirk delivers the most vivid portrayal, conveying her character’s emotional desperation and physical anguish with palpable intensity. Her performance is the most stirring element of an evening which otherwise has the feel of an ASMR video.
Infinite Life opened September 12, 2023 at the Linda Gross Theater and runs through October 8. Tickets and information: atlantictheater.org
