Theatre Review: The Year of Magical Thinking | City Theater Company

By Mike Logothetis

Theater reviewer Mike Logothetis grew up in North Wilmington, performing in school and local theater productions. He lives in Newark, but you can find him wherever the arts are good.

City Theater Company (CTC) returns to the stage in 2023 with the one-woman autobiographical The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.  The play is based on her bestselling memoir of the same name and stars Mary Catherine Kelley in the titular role.  The production takes place in the cozy Wings Black Box at The Delaware Contemporary (TDC) on the Wilmington Riverfront.

Mary Catherine Kelley stars in The Year of Magical Thinking at CTC.
Photo by Jim Coarse/Moonloop Photography.

Adapted by the author for Broadway in 2007, the award-winning play is a riveting and heartfelt elegy that expands on the book, which won the National Book Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The work explores Didion’s grief following the deaths of her husband John Gregory Dunne and daughter Quintana Roo.

In what amounts to an extended soliloquy, Didion recounts her journey of loss, perseverance, and hope by using her signature wit to draw an intimate portrait of the resilience of the human heart.  Kelley is moving as Didion…taking the audience with her as she flutters between recounting good times and lamenting the present without her loved ones.  It’s not an easy line to walk, but Kelley deftly brings you inside Didion and her family.  The lack of stage microphones heightens the intimacy as we hear every quiver in Kelley’s voice and each bold statement of resilience.

The production is directed by CTC Artistic Director Kerry Kristine McElrone, who has opted for simplicity and straightforwardness in her guidance of the action.  Kelley isn’t asked to more than be human and share Didion’s complex thoughts on death and dying.  That’s no small task, but by getting down to basics, the message becomes more powerful.

Kudos to set designer Rick Neidig and lighting man Stuart Thomas for keeping things simple and effective, like McElrone with her direction.

The play starts with death and ends with death, but there is joy interwoven in Didion’s words.  “I love you more than one more day” is a sort of mantra recalling the special bond between lost husband and daughter.  These aren’t distant figures, but spirits you feel are in the theater with you.  Kelley was powerful when describing how she would brush “Q-Roo’s” hair and repeatedly brought up her daughter’s ever-changing locks.

Back in 2007, the New York Times called The Year of Magical Thinking “a report back from an emotional abyss, yet for all its intensity, it isn’t grim or overwrought.  It’s rigorously self-scrutinizing, dryly self-mocking, fairly stunned-somehow both unsentimental and consumed with love.”

So what exactly is “magical thinking,” according to Didion?  The play mentions anthropological ties to mysticism, but from the stage action it seems to be more of a modern optimistic reality.  The script takes on a better pace at the first inkling that Didion truly recognizes a death in her immediate family – stepping out of initial denial.  She continues to revisit better times and sometimes felt her loved ones were still with her, but as the dialog progresses, the audience realizes that Didion has come to a sort of acceptance.  It’s a powerful journey that is navigated with aplomb by CTC.

Winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction, The Year of Magical Thinking is one of many celebrated books by Joan Didion.  She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded her its 2005 Gold Medal in nonfiction.  She also received the 1996 Edward MacDowell Medal, the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award, and the 2002 George Polk Book Award.

CTC’s mission is to create a body of work that takes risks and breaks barriers — just as TDC’s is to take risks and push boundaries.  Both institutions are invested in promoting the work of local and emerging artists, advancing opportunity and growth by and for the community, and welcoming all those looking to experience art.

City Theater Company is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Divisions promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.

The Year of Magical Thinking will run Friday and Saturday nights through February 18.  Curtain is at 8:00pm and run time is approximately 100 minutes without an intermission.  City Theater Company’s home is at The Delaware Contemporary located at 200 South Madison, Wilmington, DE 19801.  Tickets ($30-45) can be purchased at the box office or online.  Special ticket pricing is available for military personnel and students.  

Please call the box office at (302)220-8285 or email info@city-theater.org for details.

CTC's Latest Show Begs the Question, "What Is Art?"

By Mike Logothetis

City Theater Company (CTC) returns to the Wings Black Box during its 2022-23 residency at The Delaware Contemporary (TDC) with the Tony- and Olivier-winning comedy ART. The 1994 play was written by Yasmina Reza and translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton.

The story is about three friends who find themselves at odds after one (Serge) purchases a very pricey, all-white painting. Throughout the show, the three characters argue viciously — amusingly — over their responses to the painting.

ART stars CTC debutant Nick Johnson as Marc plus CTC alumni Christian Deisler (Serge) and Emma Romeo (Yvan). The “deconstruction” of the central piece of artwork devolves to comic effect as the trio grapples with the larger question of how to maintain personal relationships through a (contrived) crisis. A cutting question Marc repeatedly asks Serge is, “You paid 200,000 francs for this [expletive]?” When Yvan tries to play peacemaker, she is derided by the others as a “coward” and an “amoeba,” and even suffers a minor injury when she tries to defuse a brief scuffle.

Though it makes several appearances during the play, the white painting soon becomes a MacGuffin — i.e., a catalyst for amplifying hidden tensions inside this longstanding three-way friendship. The simple question, “But is it art?” runs throughout the action, either explicitly or implicitly – moving the plot forward.

Don't be misled by the impressive pedigree of ART, as the play is almost more slapstick than subtle. But the themes run deep because true friendship is not superficial. These characters care about each other, but life has intervened – which often makes the simple more complex.

These are not esoteric personas, but ones you interact with daily. Serge is an idealist whose life has been mostly comfortable. Marc is a realist with a stern outer layer he uses for protection. Yvan is an easy-going person on the outside with insecurities swirling below the surface. All three actors imbue their characters with individuality and compassion. They are a talented trio whose banter is natural and pointed, helping the audience believe their characters are really friends – but also scathing critics.

Director Jeff Robleto allows his actors to interact and soliloquize easily and comfortably under clever lighting by Stuart Thomas. Robleto’s pacing keeps us hooked into the changes these friends are going through. After the show, it is inevitable to ponder changes in one’s own friendships and the views others may have of us. Do interpersonal conflicts just happen or are they initiated?

The funniest scene is when Yvan delivers her wedding monologue — listing all that could go wrong about her upcoming nuptials. Romeo commanded our attention and drew us into her character’s angst while humoring us with mundane decisions which are slowing driving Yvan mad. But are her concerns of any consequence to Marc and Serge? Do they even care? …a little? …a lot?

Come to the Riverfront to find out!

Artistic Director Kerry Kristine McElrone was excited before (and after) the show about this and the upcoming slate of performances by City Theater Company. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (February 2023) and Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins (April 2023) are next on the docket. Plus there are partnership productions with TDC and Fearless Improv coming up. Check city-theater.org for more information.

CTC’s mission is to create a body of work that takes risks and breaks barriers — just as TDC’s is to take risks and push boundaries. Both institutions are invested in promoting the work of local and emerging artists, advancing opportunity and growth by and for the community, and welcoming all those looking to experience art.

ART will run for only four more performances through Saturday (December 11, 15, 16 & 17). Curtain is at 8:00pm save for the lone Sunday matinee (2:00pm). Run time is just about 90 minutes. City Theater Company’s new-ish home is at The Delaware Contemporary located at 200 South Madison, Wilmington, Delaware 19801.

Tickets ($30-45) can be purchased at the box office or online. Special ticket pricing is available for military personnel and students. Please call the box office at 302.220.8285 or email info@city-theater.org for details.

It's a great time to visit The Delaware Contemporary (and other local museums) and ask yourself rhetorically, “But is it art?”