Theater at its finest – a rich, literate script; poised, thoughtful direction and unvarnished but deeply moving acting – is on stage at little Insight Theatre’s space at Nerinx Hall, and it’s a joy to see all the pieces come together in a rich, rewarding production of "Painting Churches," which opened on Friday to run through July 19 at the Heagney Theatre on the campus.
Tina Howe’s play, with Joneal Joplin and Tommy Nolan as Gardner and Fanny Church, respectively, and Amy Loui as their daughter, Mags, uses a pun on the characters’ surname to disguise the title a little. No one is painting a church, not even a pew or a steeple, but Mags has arrived at her parents’ Boston home to help them pack and prepare to move, and also to paint their portrait.
The elder Churches are proper Brahmins, correct in everything they use, from the correct fork to the correct word. He’s an award-winning writer and teacher, she’s his loyal wife of many years. But he’s failing, and that’s where the play connects with its audience, especially those of us who are up in years, but also those, like Mags, who have parents who are up in years.
Joplin, who has brightened St. Louis stages for 37 years, rarely has been in better control of a part. It’s more than just his lines, though they are delivered beautifully, it’s the little bits of stage business, the sort of thing that only a long-time, successful director like Wayne Loui can provide, and it’s Susan Pennington’s costumes, added and subtracted in layers, among them a brilliant multi-colored jacket and a black floppy hat, and it’s the interaction among Joplin and Nolan and the director’s daughter, Amy.
All three actors are outstanding, and all have their moments to shine, thanks to Howe’s intelligent, on-target characterizations and lines, and to Loui’s on-the-mark direction. Amy Loui, as the daughter-artist, confident in her abilities but shy in front of parents, is brilliant as she discusses a childhood trauma, and again in the climactic scene without a word. She watches and listens as they look at the portrait, slowly decide they like it (the audience doesn’t see it), encourage one another. Loui’s fear and trepidation turn to triumph, and it’s a lovely moment.
Joplin is a delight, and one can laugh at his early gaffes, then almost cry as he slowly and carefully uses a page from his masterpiece to create a paper boat, or maybe a plane, and Nolan, generous and supportive throughout, exposes the heart of the play when she looks at her daughter and points out that she – Fanny Church – has the responsibility to let her husband "exit with a flourish."
Or a tear. . . .
An Insight Theatre Production at the Heagney Theatre at Nerinx Hall, through July 19.
–Joe