[theatre]

Love, Love, Love:
‘To Gillian’ is a jewel

By: MJ Pendleton

Love is a many splendered thing. Love makes the world go around. Love is blind. Love conquers all. All you need is love. Everyone loves a lover and a love story. “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” is particularly appealing because playwright Michael Brady develops so many different facets of love: husband and wife, parent and child, and friends. The acting in Big Dawg’s production is so fine that the play transcends the very real possibility of sentimental cliché. Even the most cynical misanthrope will be affected by the sincerity of this performance.

Director Ken Cressman couldn’t have cast each character more perfectly, so there really wasn’t a stand-out individual performance. Kevin Wilson, as the brother-in-law and comic relief, was so natural he could have been sitting on his own back deck chatting with friends. His comic timing was perfect, and he aced a male bonding scene that could have easily been cringingly awkward. Michelle Gagliano, as his wife, Esther (and Gillian’s sister), saves the play from maudlin sentimentality and is simply wonderful as the warm but sensible voice of reason.

Like Esther, the blind date Kevin is also a maternal, practical character, but M. Christy Grantham could have just smiled without ever saying a word and still won the audience. Michelle Crabtree is so beautiful she doesn’t even have to smile—but she does, and she dances about the stage like a fawn, trying to lead the other characters toward some semblance of happiness. Sarah Burns is an adorable nymphet, with a very obvious crush on her friend’s dad. In a role that could be a caricature, Burns infuses it with a sweet undertone that is very endearing.

Alex Wharff (David) does tortured angst very well without being melodramatic. His antisocial distraction gently refocuses on life and the living, gradually and realistically. The only slightly awkward moments are the fault of the script, not the actors.

There is a stiffness in the goofy lovespeak scene between Wharff and Maggie Miller (Gillian, the spirit of David’s dead wife). The awkwardness is, perhaps, an intentional device to convey the message that their love was not all that perfect. Miller’s performance mirrored Wharff’s in that particular scene, but it was powerful when the script revealed her character’s true personality.

The set, designed by Doug Dodson, is a charming beach scene with a sandy canvas stretched at an angle toward the horizon. A portion of a clapboard house with a screen door is realistic and functional as an exit offstage. The center stage deck, wrapped in netting and buoys, transports the audience to a familiar weekend at the beach, and the very bright lighting enhances the feeling of a relentlessly sunny day.

Of all the theater companies in Wilmington, Big Dawg Productions wins the award of hopelessly romantic. Ultimately, this is the feel-good play of the year. Audiences will want to kiss their lovers, hug their children, and thank their friends for just being there for them.

“To Gillian” plays June 26th-29th and July 3rd-6th. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8pm; Sunday matinees are at 3pm. For tickets call 343-3664, Thalian Studio Theater.