The new theatre kid in town is the Inevitable Theatre Company. (Who could resist the slogan, “Death. Taxes. Theatre. You Can’t Avoid the Inevitable!”?) Their maiden voyage into the St. Louis theatre waters is Unsuspecting Susan at The Chapel.
Donna Weinsting is Susan Chester in this almost-one-woman show. She lives outside of London in a village where her family has been for many years, divorced from the father of her only child, a son now grown. She gardens, she walks the dogs, she acts in local theatrics. No need to go up to London any more often than absolutely necessary, certainly – it’s a quiet, satisfying life.
But what starts out as a rather slight domestic comedy evolves over 80 minutes into something very different. Her son, who lives in London, has had problems since he was, at the very least, an adolescent. The only specific behavior we hear about involves outbursts of smashing things but eventually we learn there were psychiatric hospitalizations and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. But things, Susan explains, are better now. Things have stabilized and she’s been to visit him and his flatmate several times.
If only he had some actual aim in life, she murmurs, perhaps do a course somewhere. The flatmate, she explains farther on, is such a nice fellow. And the flat is just immaculate. It must be the flatmate, since Simon’s always been untidy. Tea from a lovely metal pot, you see. No, of course, they’re not “that way”, she hastens to add. “That way” does not turn out to be the problem with which she must deal, heralded by an appearance from a young constable (Christina Sittser) who has no lines.
The constable doesn’t really need lines. Director and company founder Robert Neblett has done his own sound design using, among other things, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, a work sufficiently elegant that it was used at the funeral of Princess Grace. That, and the lighting from JT Taylor, do a first-rate job in telling us what’s going on. Not necessarily as a side note, the wonky acoustics that create havoc at The Chapel are almost completely negated; Weinsting faces her audience and at least for those fairly close to the front of the house, things are excellent.
The denouement is a shocking one, make no mistake. It’s a big performance from Weinsting, especially masterfully done in the stressful moments, carried with a fine balance of emotion and stiff upper lip. Towards the end, the script unfortunately slips into one of those “Is this the ending? No, wait, there’s more. Maybe this? No….” things, but overall it’s a remarkably worthwhile evening.
Hie thee to The Chapel, humming the old Dixie Cups tune as you enter, and settle in for a ride.
Unsuspecting Susan
through September 30
Inevitable Theatre Company
The Chapel
6238 Alexander Drive