REVIEW by ANTHONY CHASE
Torn Space Theater's bold reimagining of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage offers an intriguing and often unsettling look at married life. Co-directors Dan Shanahan and Melissa Meola, working from Emily Mann's English adaptation, create a kaleidoscopic production that peels back the layers of Bergman's exploration of love, time, and personal evolution.
Bergman created the play by condensing the six episodes of his celebrated 1973 television miniseries starring Liv Ullman as Marianne, a divorce lawyer, and Erland Josephson, a university professor, whose seemingly perfect marriage disintegrates over the course of ten years. Each of the six scenes of the play bears the name of one of the six television series episodes.
In Ivo van Hove's groundbreaking 2014 production at the New York Theater Workshop, the Dutch director transformed Bergman's script by featuring three pairs of actors playing Johan and Marianne at different life stages. The youngest couple, Johan and Marianne 1, were in their late twenties or early thirties. The middle pair, Johan and Marianne 2, were in their forties, while Johan and Marianne 3 were in their fifties.
Torn Space's version, by contrast, also departs from the original one man – one woman structure, but anchors the play to one Marianne, played by formidable and charismatic Tracie Lane, while three actors of varying ages rotate through the role of Johan. All of the men are very strong actors, and all are notably and noticeably Ms. Lane’s senior. From youngest to oldest, Todd Benzin, in his late 40s, presents the most self-absorbed iteration of Johan ; Stan Klimecko, is the most aggressive; and venerable Jack Hunter comes across as the most world-weary and disengaged. This revolving door of Johans creates a fascinating effect, with Lane's Marianne seemingly resetting with each new partner. It reminds me of the repetitive structures in David Ives' "Sure Thing" or Caryl Churchill's "Blue Heart," plays in which scenes reset every time a bell or buzzer rings. Enter a new Johan; who is she now?
Torn Space remains faithful to Bergman’s linear chronological story structure. At New York Theater Workshop, the stage was divided into three small rooms. The first Johan and Marianne performed "Innocence and Panic," Johan and Marianne 2 enacted "The Art of Sweeping Things Under the Rug," and Johan and Marianne 3 played "Paula." These scenes ran simultaneously in their separate spaces, with sound intentionally bleeding between rooms, particularly during emotionally charged moments with raised voices. The audience was divided into thirds, with each group rotating through the rooms after each scene, meaning the actors performed their scenes three times and different audience segments experienced the first half of the play in varying orders.
At intermission, the dividing walls were removed to create a single space. The fourth scene, "Vale of Tears," distributed dialogue among all three couples performing simultaneously. In Scene 5, "The Illiterates," all characters spoke in unison. The final scene, "In the Middle of the Night," belonged solely to Johan and Marianne 3. It was a mesmerizing experience, enriched for me by the thrill of seeing Buffalo’s Roslyn Ruff as Marianne 2.
At Torn Space, the audience stays seated in one place, with Marianne as the sun around which three Johans orbit; or around whom three vultures circle, or the flame around which three moths dance with varying degrees of self-destruction; or the lighthouse around which three ships navigate; or the eye of a storm around which … you get the idea. At various points, all of these contradictory metaphors might apply.
Lane, whom we last saw at Torn Space giving a marvelously pointed yet enigmatic performance as Ruth in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, rises to the challenge estimably. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that Lane is one of Buffalo’s finest actors and one of those, like Roslyn Ruff or Christine Baranski, who could be successful in any market (to see others of this caliber, go catch the current production of The Wanderers at JRT). Her Marianne transforms from cool perfection, to pathetic and vulnerable, to pragmatic and invincible, adapting to each new Johan with thrilling versatility.
The play opens with Marianne and Johan (Benzin) entertaining their friends Peter (Klimecko) and Katrina (Christine Turturro). They're discussing a recently published magazine interview that features the host couple. When Peter asks Johan how he had described himself to the interviewer, Johann responds:
"That wasn't so easy … I described myself as intelligent … successful, youthful, level-headed, sexy … sounds like I'm bragging. Politically conscious, cultured, well-read, popular. What else …”
He’s not yet done. This man without apparent flaws continues his list of self-identified virtues.
“Friendly, even to people who aren't … so well-off … I like sports. I'm a good father, a good son. I have no debts, pay my taxes, respect the government … I left the church. Is that enough? And I'm a fabulous lover. Right Marianne?"
Marianne has no response. In answer to the same question, she simply says, "I'm married to Johan, and we have two daughters. Period."
This exchange reveals Johan's smugness and Marianne's self-definition through family. Compared to Peter and Katrina, who are increasingly drunk and openly hostile to each other, Marianne and Johan’s marriage appears to be in great shape. But in this mismatch of perception and self-identity, we sense that trouble is brewing from the very first scene. There are other clues, including Marianne’s repeated concern that Johan should experience other lovers, and of course, her pointedly laconic responses and the alacrity with which she asks if Katrina might be considering a divorce.
As the story unfolds, we witness the couple's struggles with communication, sexual incompatibility, infidelity, and self-discovery.
Shanahan and Meola's direction pushes the boundaries of gender representation. The casting of three Johans is just the first of these gestures. In a particularly startling move, young Christine Turturo, who plays bitter and pragmatic Katherine, steps into Johan's shoes for the scene featuring a physical fight. This spares us the specter of seeing a man hit a woman, but blunts the impact of the scene in some ways, while adding dimensions of complexity in others. Stan Klimecko's portrayal of “Mr.” Jacobi similarly reconfigures the narrative; as originally written, the character was “Mrs. Jacobi,” and the situation of waiting years to get a much-desired divorce until your children are grown resonates much differently when the character is, instead, a man.
While these choices might seem less dramatically satisfying than seeing the characters cast traditionally, I have long ago learned that within the experimental mission of Torn Space, sometimes the disruption itself is the point. I have, for instance, learned to curb my own compulsion to find narrative in the sprawling succession of visual moments that comprise their performance installations. I have learned to hold on and go for the ride in their unruly forays into familiar social patterns, and the rewards are always rich.
The issue of gender norms, for instance, implicit in Bergman's original 1973 television series, subsequent film treatment, and stage play, is both obscured and highlighted through Shanahan and Meola's casting choices. Through casting, they obscure elements of the issue while pushing others to the forefront. If the audience is occasionally perplexed, so much the better. They want us to leave talking about what we have seen.
The age dynamics in this production introduce an additional dimension to the already intricate examination of relationships. With all the Johans portrayed by actors noticeably older than Tracie Lane's consistent Marianne, the power balance and expectations within the marriage take on new nuances. This casting choice amplifies Marianne's claim to have found her life's purpose in caring for Johan, giving it a more literal and potentially burdensome interpretation. Johan's infidelity with a 23-year-old becomes even more of a sad cliché when he is depicted as significantly older.
Scenography is always a central feature of Torn Space productions. The set for Scenes from a Marriage is by Kristina Siegel, who has done extraordinary work at Torn Space often before, (Streetcar Named Desire, Far Away, The Collection, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie) brilliantly amplifying expressionistic productions with challenging expressionistic environments. While her work for Scenes for a Marriage recycled elements of her set for The Homecoming, in many ways this did not seem like a Kristina Siegel set to me. Transitions between scenes are clumsy. The setting up of a literal bed required the cumbersome removal of a jigsaw puzzle of boxes, which would then have to be laboriously converted back into a floor. There would have been countless better solutions. (At New York Theater Workshop, the dining table of the opening scene, swiftly became a bed, which to my mind, was a very Kristina Seigel kind of move). Projections against the back wall, proclaiming the names of scenes were very effective, as was placing the audience several feet back at analytical distance. We cannot know what challenges in time and construction brought Torn Space to this environment. In stasis the set worked well enough, but the transitions were problematic.
Ultimately, Torn Space Theater's "Scenes from a Marriage" offers a fresh and thought-provoking interpretation of Bergman's now classic work. By fragmenting Johan while maintaining a consistent Marianne, the production creates a unique exploration of how relationships evolve over time. This approach provides audiences with a multifaceted and insightful view of marriage, love, and personal growth.
Tracie Lane is, once again, perfection as she morphs her way through the permutations of Marianne's dynamic relationship with Johan. Her work is particularly striking in how she captures Marianne's transforming sense of self. Whether quietly enduring Johan’s self-absorption or asserting her independence, she imbues the character with authenticity and emotional resonance. It’s a magnetic performance that not only defines the production but also elevates it, demonstrating Lane's exceptional range and artistry.
The production decidedly tilts our attention toward Lane, but the men certainly hold their own as they provide the platform(s) from which her stellar performance is launched. Todd Benzin brings his mercurial wit to his performance as eager Johan. Stan Klimecko is entirely natural as browbeaten Peter and as frustrated Johan. Jack Hunter is the Rock of Gibraltar as jaded and callous Johan.
Christine Turturro, whose big scene is the first, "Innocence and Panic" in which she plays Katherine, brings remarkable authenticity to the character, showcasing the scope of her talent. Her gift for bringing psychological acuity to her characters, conveying the intricate emotions of love, resentment, betrayal, and regret, sometimes simultaneously, is truly impressive and is a quality for which she is increasingly known.
It's a testament to the enduring relevance of Bergman's work as well as to the creative vision of Shanahan and Meola that this nearly 50-year-old story can still feel so immediate and revelatory, demonstrating how the universal is truly achieved through the specific.
Performances of Scenes from a Marriage continue through March 1, 2025, at the Torn Space Theater, The Adam Mickiewicz Dramatic Circle, 612 Fillmore Avenue, Buffalo, New York
