Significant Figures

Insignificance

Written by Terry Johnson

Directed by Amanda Lathroum

At the Quincy House JCR

Through this weekend

HAVE you ever sat through a Space, Time and Motion section without really understanding the significance of the discussion? Maybe you're just frustrated with the neophyte philosopherkings in your section "who know not what they say?" Forgive them. Instead of dwelling on their insignificance, take a break from the pseudo and step into the cereberal dimension of Harvard theater. It's closer than you think in Quincy House's production of Insignificance.

Terry Johnson bases his play around a chance meeting between Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein. The space is a New York hotel room, the time is 1953 and the motion comes from the interaction between the characters on the stage. The premise seems a highly inventive experiment, though it leans toward a trite conclusion.

Insignificance is sort of an arty Breakfast Club. A brain, a bombshell, a demagogue and a jock are thrown haphazardly together. They take advantage of this unique situation by incessantly talking to one another. They talk about relativity, they talk about relationships, they talk about their childhood, they talk about their insecurities. As Einstein (here called "the Professor") pithily concludes, "If two people don't give each other time, they give each other nothing."

And time is about all they have to offer each other. The Actress (Jacqueline Sloan) tries to take advantage of a quiet moment alone with the Professor (Shawn Hainsworth). She desperately tries to seduce him. But onto the scene arrives the Actress's husband, the Ballplayer (Chris Cabot) to prevent the affair from ever happening. The script gives the illusion of suspense but never resolves the dissonance it creates. More questions seem to be asked than answered in this fragmented plot.

But then Insignificance focuses more on the characters than on the plot. As the introspective Professor, Hainsworth passively listens to the problems of the other characters. He brings impish charm to his character. But Hainsworth has little to work with. Like the guru that he is, he just sits on his bed waiting for other people to come and interrupt his quiet existence.

In the role of The Actress, Jacqueline Sloan wisely avoids the stereotypical starlet image of Marilyn Monroe. She presents Monroe as a strong woman who is capable of being vulnerable. Sloan's Actress is a woman of intelligence and resource. And it's probably better that Sloan plays upon Monroe's intelligence since she looks more like the waif-like Natalie Wood than the blond bombshell.

Chris Cabot as the Ballplayer (who is supposed to be Monroe's real-life husband Joe DiMaggio), has a menacing physical presence. Cabot plays up the stereotype of the dumb jock, but amidst all the gumcracking lie some very clever lines. Granted, he does stupid things, like calling Freud "Floyd." But his stupidity makes him an even more affable character. He's the only one in this clan that doesn't take all of this "smart talk" seriously.

T.J. Smith as the Politician (who is supposed to be Sen. Joseph McCarthy) gives new meaning to the word corrupt. His Southern drawl oozes with slime and blackmail. Despite his choir boy looks and white summer suit, he has the moral code of a modern-day Mephistopheles.

Mitchell and the rest of the cast deliver extremely watchable performances. Even though Insignificance's premise sounds bette in theory than in practice, it remains relatively good entertainment.