by Diana Goldammer

When you take your seat, be prepared to see bits and pieces of your family on stage.  Curtains will take you through conversations that your family may have dealt with or will deal with at some point regarding aging with dignity, respecting life, and respecting a loved one’s wishes. 

While this play does tackle serious issues, there are bits of humor sprinkled throughout.  The veteran cast that first-time director Trisha Schleich assembled did a nice job with a challenging script.  Schleich and assistant director Lelia Guilbert had a daunting task in producing this British comedy.

When the lights go up, the first thing you’ll notice is that Ida, the 86 year old matriarch, is played by Arin Winger, a much younger man.  While Ida’s lines are few and far between, there is no doubt that Ida is not impressed with the cake or gifts that her family has showered upon her in honor of her birthday.  Watching the other characters interact with Ida was somewhat uncomfortable; their portrayal of how a family treats their eldest member was sadly realistic.  While not being intentionally cruel, they seemed to have thrown the birthday party to assuage their own feelings of obligation rather than for her enjoyment.

Dan Miller and Melissa Vatter-Miller played Catherine and Geoffrey, one daughter and son-in-law.  As the main characters on stage, they grappled with a range of emotions as they tried to do what was right, save their own hides, justify their actions and suffer the consequences of their actions.  Catherine’s inner struggle is heart-wrenching, while Geoffrey’s is rather self-serving.  He is also the unintentional comic element during the moments when the audience was barely breathing because of the tension on stage.

Another of Ida’s daughters, Margaret, was played by Marcia Dean.  Her husband Douglas was played by Ben Floyd.  Floyd’s role was interesting, as he is a young DWU student playing a man in his 50s.  Margaret and Douglas, as the half of the family who’d never had Ida in their home, are completely opposite from each other in their opinions of what would have been Ida’s wishes, and how she should have been treated.  Floyd’s monologues demonstrate an ability that’s well beyond his years.

ACT veteran Jesse Clark doesn’t disappoint as Michael, the grandson who’d been living with Ida and caring for her with the assistance of neighbor Mrs. Jackson, played by Melissa Tafoya.  Tafoya is another DWU student who played a character generations older than she is.  Tafoya gave a fun performance, with both comic elements and genuine common sense.  Michael displayed disbelief as he mourned the grandmother that he’d been caring for.  Michael and Mrs. Jackson deal with Ida’s death in completely different ways, both using their perspective as perfect justification.

There was a last minute casting change as stage manager Danny Richardson stood in for Amber Bakke, who fell ill immediately before the performance.  She did a valiant job of jumping in and allowing the show to go on.  Richardson played the youngest daughter and black sheep of the family, Susan, who’d left home decades earlier as a pregnant teenager.

Curtains is certainly not a show that you walk out of laughing with your friends.  But it is one that will follow you long after you leave the theater.  Bravo to ACT for tackling a tough topic and challenging us to think about what it means to care for aging family members.