"The Wanderers" at JRT

Crossing boundaries

REVIEW by ANTHONY CHASE

Jordan Levin as Abe and Alexandria Watts as Sophie in The Wanderers at JRT - PHOTO Jim Gibbons

Anna Ziegler's The Wanderers, presented by the Jewish Repertory Theater of Western New York (JRT), is a captivating exploration of love, identity, and the search for meaning across generations. The play weaves together two intriguing but seemingly disparate stories: one of an Orthodox Jewish couple in an arranged marriage in the 1970s, and another of a secular Jewish novelist grappling with fame and marital discontent in 2015.

Arin Lee Dandes and Adam Yellen as Esther and Schmuli - PHOTO Jim Gibbons

We meet Esther and Schmuli, a young Hasidic couple navigating the constraints of their traditional community, alongside Abe, a hugely successful author, and his wife Sophie, whose own literary aspirations have been overshadowed by his fame and infantile personal needs. Abe's life takes an unexpected turn when he begins a flirtatious email correspondence with Julia Cheever, a Hollywood star, adding a layer of complexity to the already intricate web of relationships.

Steve Vaughan's strong direction indisputably matches the script's nuanced exploration of human connections for eloquence. Characters move across the space and through time with a fluidity that borders on choreography. The emotional peaks are perfectly modulated, and each character is presented with lucidity and believability. This is a well-paced evening that leads up to a thrillingly unexpected reversal and highly satisfying climax.

The production boasts a notably strong cast of familiar Western New York actors, each bringing depth and nuance to their role. This is one of those occasions that calls for superlatives. 

Adam Yellen and Arin Lee Dandes

Arin Lee Dandes, as Esther, captures the character's zest for life and frustration with her circumstances with moving authenticity. She infuses her performance with a raw honesty, skillfully portraying Esther's internal struggle as her curiosity leads her to conflicts between tradition and her personal desires. Observe the undercurrent of delight that informs her encounters with a forbidden book or piece of technology, and her shattering anger and disappointment when her hopes are thwarted and her very humanity is denied. This portrayal balances youthful exuberance with the weight of societal expectations, creating a multifaceted and relatable Esther.

Adam Yellen as Schmuli 

Adam Yellen, Dandes' real-life husband, portrays Schmuli with a perfect blend of lovable naivety and frustrating weakness. Ultimately a tragic figure, Yellen reveals the humanity beneath the man's flaws, giving a haunting performance, and creating a compelling human being. His struggles between his love for Esther and his adherence to tradition, or moments when he tries to explain a religious rule to Esther only to realize that she is his equal as a human and his superior as an intellect, draw us to him.

Alexandria Watts plays Sophie. This is kind of a breakthrough role for this very talented actor. Often cast in lighter roles, her dynamic performance as Sophie affords us the opportunity to see her dig into the depth and complexity of a conflicted and enigmatic character. Watts masterfully builds Sophie's hidden anger into unbridled aggression, creating an electrifying and even harrowing tension on stage. The character who seems, on the surface, to be the most transparent and giving, will surprise us. The way Watts gradually unveils Sophie's frustrations and unfulfilled ambitions is both nuanced and explosive. This is a remarkable performance.

Jordan Levin is an actor who always impresses. Here, he skillfully balances Abe's verbose self-pity with an underlying charm. The contrast between his confident public self, giving a reading and signing books, stands in stark contrast to his inept interactions with his family. Playing the character whose story most ventures across the boundaries of time and the surprising intersections between characters, Levin carries a huge burden of expository narration. The way that playwright Ziegler reveals Abe’s personal history allows him to earn our sympathy, detail by detail, as he artfully lands these moments with an understated and wholly convincing performance.

Jordan Levin, Alexandria Watts, and Aleks Malejs

Aleks Malejs plays movie star Julia Cheever. She imbues the character with a remote and ethereal quality. The intimacy of the Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre affords us the luxury of observing her up close. She is one of the most talented actors in Buffalo. The subtlety of her reactions and facial expressions is thrilling on this occasion, especially as she listens to Abe bearing his soul, and responds with shifting looks of empathy, bemusement, concern, reluctance, and affection.

Vaughn places Malejs always at a remove, literally on a kind of pedestal, enhanced further by the height of her steep wedged shoes. (Excellent costumes for this production are by Kari Droz – Malejs did the Lauren Bacall hairstyle herself). Whereas the other characters are restlessly on the move, Vaughn defines the Julia character with stasis. Her entrances and exits hold a majesty and sense of importance as well as a subtle quality of celestial unreality.

Brian Cavanagh's lighting design is remarkably effective, establishing mood and heightening dramatic tension with precision. His treatment of Malejs, using high angles and shadows reminiscent of golden age Hollywood, is particularly noteworthy, reminding us of Clarence Sinclair Bull’s portraits of Garbo or George Hurrell’s images of Dietrich and Crawford. Paramount Light. Rembrandt light. Chiaroscuro. Cavanagh designs so many shows that we might take him for granted. It is worth taking a moment to appreciate how good his work is here.

Chris Cavanagh's minimal set design is marvelously fluid and versatile, providing a minimal yet highly functional backdrop for the action. The exquisite staging is augmented by brief but affecting choreography by Terri Filips Vaughan.

Not everyone pays much attention to curtain calls, but I do. The central line of The Wanderers does follow the Abe and Sophie thread, and Abe is the nexus of all the plot lines. Nonetheless, this is a true ensemble piece in which every person is essential and the interconnections between people are the entire point. I would like to have seen a proper ensemble curtain call that acknowledged this dimension the play, as well as its sublimely minimal staging, rather than the operatic one-by-one hierarchical call currently in place. Even an ensemble call followed by an additional individual call for Mr. Levin would have been more appropriate. That’s a small point, I know, but the final bow is our final impression of every theater experience.   

A thought-provoking and beautifully crafted play, The Wanderers invites us to contemplate our perceptions of love, faith, and personal fulfillment. Through masterful storytelling and superb performances, JRT has given the piece a first-rate outing. If I handed out stars, this show would get a full constellation.

The Wanderers continues through March 2, 2025. Thursdays at 7:30; Saturdays at 3:30 and 7:30; Sundays at 2:00.

Tickets

SIDEBAR ON HOLLYWOOD LIGHTING

Brian Cavanagh's lighting of Julia Cheever, played by Aleks Malejs is reminiscent of Hollywood's lighting of the great stars of the 1930s and 1940s.

Lauren Bacall photographed by John Engstead

Garbo photographed by Clarence Sinclair Bull

Marlene photographed by George Hurrell

Crawford photographed by George Hurrell