This fine play takes its title from a poem by Stevie Smith, the late British woman writer of the last century. That poem is titled "Not Waving, but Drowning," and it serves as a metaphor for the hopelessness and overwhelming nature of depression. Drowning by depression, so to speak.
The key lines from the poem deserve repeating here.
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
....I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Gen LeRoy's play is about bipolar illness, which is a clinical, somewhat euphemistic way of saying Manic Depression. The action follows Gabby (Sheila Saunders) and her daughter Nicole (Janis Schodowski, who also produced) after Nicole is released from a psychiatric hospital for treatment of an episode of bipolar illness.
LeRoy deals with a number of themes such as denial of the devastating illness, its stigma, its devastating effects on relationships and careers, and the role of heredity. The play will be quite informative to those lucky enough not to have either been afflicted with the illness or known someone who was sick. But make no mistake, it is not an academic exericse. Rather, it is a piercing, effective drama in which LeRoy has had the courage, and artistic integrity to shun sentimentality in favor of harsh reality.
The play opens with a monologue by Gabby, in which the rather insecure, reserved, halting woman wonders how her daughter became so ill. She says to the audcience that there was an aunt in the family who was a bit unstable, but Gabby dismisses any definitive hereditary cause for Nicole's hell. Before the night is over, it will be clear that the characters are indeed imprisoned by genetics. They are locked in a box of deadly genes.
Nicole is released from the psychiatric institution. The doctor and nurse are rather indifferent to Nicole's plight, merely telling Gabby to be sure that their daughter takes her medication. The audience knows right away that there is going to be trouble.
Gabby and Nicole proceed to a restaurant to celebrate Nicole's new found freedom along with the hope for her recovery. No sooner are they seated than it is obvious how ill Nicole still is. She remains in a manic phase for the First Act and much of the Second. She makes bad judgments, alienates employers and fellow workers, and launches any number of irrational schemes to try to "regain" her cat. She has lost the cat to her ex-husband in what turned out to be a custody battle (their marriage ended because of Nicole's illness). Nicole's desperation, the acute nature of her manic depression, is evident when she speaks continually about how her life might be different if only she had her cat back. She even convinces her mother to join her in breaking and entering her ex's apartment to retrieve the feline. There is nothing funny about it. It is harrowing.
In the Second Act, Nicole continues in her manic phase but ultimately "crashes." That is the term used to describe the time when a patient reverts from mania to deep, overwhelming depression--nothing less than, in Stevie Smith's metaphor, drowning. It does not take long before there is a dramatic change in Gabby's behavior as she takes on the characteristics of a manic episode. Now we see only too clearly that both Mother and daughter are serving a lifelong sentence, dictated by the raw deal of those bad genes.
The play has a most ambiguous ending as Nicole is rehospitalized and a manic Gabby visits her. A doctor says that Nicole is heavily sedated, but when we see her, it is unclear whether she is dead or alive although Gabby carries on as if she were. Then the play ends in that moment of despair, without much hope.
Most playwrights would have felt compelled to tack on a happy ending. But LeRoy has stuck with the bitter drama, not conceding for a moment to any kind of undue optimism, any more than the tiniest flicker of hope. The waters are deep and the waves are turbulent as our characters are drowning.
There are a couple minor points regarding the action. Namely, it appears that Nicole is not followed by doctors after she first leaves the hospital. And her behavior once released is so outrageous that it is hard to believe that no one would have forced her into some kind of treatment. Then again, there are many people with this illness who never get treatment. So, this criticism is most minor and LeRoy should be given the benefit of the doubt. Chalk it up to artistic license.
The very effective set has been designed by Mary Houston who has chosen a bare stage for the actors to play on. Various settings, whether it be the hospital, restaurants, offices, apartments, park benches or cars are suggested through the use of blocks of various sizes that are moved about the stage by actors in between scenes by the actors.
K. Lorrel Manning's imaginative direction brings out superb performances by the leads, Sheila Saunders and Janis Schowski. She also employs the clever device of having two very talented actors, Jacqueline Bowman and David Fraioli, playing a myriad of supporting roles, going from one to another and back again. They each play doctors, nurses, waitresses, bosses and co-workers, the ex-husband and friends, among other parts.
The night I saw the play, there were only about 20 people in a very small house. "Not Waving..." is the kind of off-off Broadway play that one can only hope will find its way to a bigger off-Broadway house and a well-deserved larger audience. Seeing a new play like this on the "fringe" lends hope for a continued, vibrant alternative to commercial theatre on Broadway. Come to think of it, Broadway, itself, could well use this play.
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