Play Review: “A Delicate Balance”

“I might very easily, as they say, lose my mind one day” purrs Glenn Close with casual conviction. It's a humorous, but ultimately unsettling way to open a play. “A Delicate Balance” may not be Edward Albee's most famous work, but it is likely the hardest to look in the eye.

Glenn Close and John Lithgow star as Agnes and Tobias, the heads of a WASP-ish upper class family. They live a comfortable life as they drink and lounge in their opulent living room (sumptuously designed by Santo Loquasto). A sort of existential crisis of fear has gripped the retirees however. Agnes' alcoholic sister Claire (Lindsay Duncan) has crashed the party as a permanent guest. Soon the couple's daughter Julia (Martha Plimpton) comes scurrying home from a fourth failed marriage. And more troubling, two best friends Harry and Edna (Bob Balaban and Clare Higgins) flee their house because of an unknown terror and seek shelter in under Tobias' roof.

Albee is a master of the domestic drama. Though you may be disappointed if you go in looking for a retread of “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. Drinks and barbs are slung back and forth with wild abandon, sure. But there is something a bit more sinister amid the zingers. As Agnes points out, “It's one of those days where everything is happening underneath”.

Fear becomes a character looming over the entire proceedings. Director Pam McKinnon (who helmed Albees “Virginia Woolf” last season) has highlighted the most uncomfortable themes in the play. When keeping up appearances is all you have to live for, what happens when your composure crumbles or your authority undermined? Agnes refers to the “terror” Harry and Edna bring into their home as a plague. A fear that infects all of their minds and forces the characters to ponder if they will go mad, amount to nothing, or lose the comfort they worked so hard for. So while the play is full of funny bits, it can also be a tough pill to swallow as Agnes examines which people are a “cancer” to her family's happiness and image.

Glenn Close turns in a much more restrained performance than we are used to as the matriarch of the family. There were certain moments I felt she could have amped it up, but she retains her thrilling ability to command a room with a simple gesture. A sharp glare, furrowed brow, or single word can command or silence any of her family members.  Agnes orchestrates all of the proceedings and hardly moves a muscle.

It's Lindsay Duncan that gives Ms. Close a run for her money. As Claire, Duncan saunters about the room with zero sense of decorum or propriety, constantly on the sidelines offering hilarious commentary as her sister and brother-in-law attempt to keep their house together. Her comedic timing is perfect and any actor who must play drunk should watch Ms. Duncan for a master class. If you're having trouble with the plays darker elements, you can at least find solace and humor in watching Claire chug martinis and fantasize about having her sister killed.

The pacing suffers occasionally, mostly in scenes with Henry. Bob Balaban is playing up his characters awkwardness. Sometimes it works, but often it saps the energy out of the scene. And in a three act play (yes three!) it takes great effort to recover from lagging pace. Thankfully McKinnon keeps everything moving at a clip.

Not everything comes fully into focus though. There is a side plot about a past affair that gets muddled. And Claire has several prophetic moments which are made too on the nose by an abrupt lighting shift or clumsy tableaux. And John Lithgow and Martha Plimpton are doing great work (they each get their own tremendous monologue to show off their chops), but one can't help but feel the characters are sometimes more of an idea, and in service to the plays themes, rather than real people to root for.

This is a dense play. I still feel like I need to go back for a second viewing to truly take in everything Albee presents. It also asks the audience (and more precisely: a theatre going, cultured, type of audience) to examine their own lives. As such, A Delicate Balance won't be to everyone's tastes. But, with the talented cast and brilliant playwright, you're bound to find something on the menu to your liking. Even if you can't quiet digest the whole thing.

A Delicate Balance
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45^th Street, Manhattan
Written by: Edward Albee
Directed by: Pam McKinnon
Starring: Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Lindsay Duncan, Martha Plimpton, Bob Balaban, and Clare Higgins
Run Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including 2 intermissions