“Book clubs are such an American phenomenon,” says one of the characters in Karen Zacarias’s hysterically funny ode to books, food, and friendships now playing at the Arena Stage. The Book Club Play is a multi-media presentation with a clever twist: this particular book club has voluntarily agreed to be filmed for a documentary by famed Danish filmmaker Lars Knudson, and so the members are constantly reacting to the “camera” on the third wall…aka the audience. On a giant screen above the stage we are constantly being treated to snippets of the “documentary,” and meeting such fascinating figures as a Wal Mart employee whose favorite book Lolita is sadly not carried by his employer, an Octogenarian-Librarian-Sky Diver who after sixty years has finally finished Ulysses, and a shark bite survivor who finds inspiration and comfort in Charlotte’s Web.
One of the play’s best themes is how the most unexpected books can touch the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected ways. Vitamin salesman Rob (Eric Messner), who only comes to Book Club for his wife Ana (Kate Easwood Norris), but never actually finishes the assigned books, does for a change manage to get through The Age of Innocence, and is driven to an existential crisis seeking the “flower of life.” Will (Tom Story) the pedantic classics professor is brought to a glorious moment of self-realization and fulfillment by…The Da Vinci Code. The hip young African American columnist Lily (Rachel Holmes) and Comparative Literature Professor Alex (Fred Arsenault) bond over Twilight. And paralegal Jen (Ashlie Atkinson) bemoans how early exposure to Wuthering Heights may have ruined her life since no man was ever quite like Heathcliff.
The script’s wit is razor sharp; (in fact the constant howls of laughter among the audience had the potential to drown out the dialogue and there was the added risk that someone might have to be given CPR at some point), with wry observations on sexuality, ego, race, class, the rise of online reading, literary license, and whether there can be hidden value in reading “popular” literature. The play is divided by each new book the Book Club meets to discuss; Moby Dick being the beginning of the saga. Every single person in Book Club (including the outsider Alex who becomes a member over the objections of the main hostess Ana), undergoes a journey throughout the story that feels surprisingly fresh yet organic.
Besides Zacarias’s writing, credit for the play’s effectiveness must go the stellar ensemble cast and their magnificent comedic timing. Ana is perfect as the control freak hostess, and Norris delivers a deliciously layered performance as an incredibly complicated, frequently frustrating, and yet thoroughly lovable human being. After a couple of hours, it’s easy to feel these characters are old friends, a very similar feeling that follows reading a good book.
Two side notes; in the spirit of the production Arena Stage asks each audience member to write on a name tag his or her favorite book before entering the theater. You might want to think about that question beforehand. (I know I have a lot of favorites but since I could only choose one off the top of my head, I went with World War Z). Arena Stage is also sponsoring a book drive right now which makes this also a good chance to send some old volumes off to pleasure others rather than throwing them in the dust heap. After all one of the whole points of book clubs is the simple fact that reading should be shared.
Read Winnefred’s review of Farenheit 451, another play about books.
The Book Club Play
Directed by Molly Smith
Arena Stage
The Kogod Cradle
Through November 6, 2011
