Lessons
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Linden, Laskin
Photo by Michael Lamont
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By Joseph N. Feinstein
A very humorous, tender, and intelligent play has returned to Los Angeles and will be playing at Lee Strasberg Creative Center's Marilyn Monroe Theatre until December 23. Hal Linden, who reprises his role of 2005, is joined by the talented Larissa Laskin as the Rabbi who renounces her faith after a devastating loss.
Wendy Graf, the playwright, won the 2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for penning Liepzig, and Gordon Davidson, famed artistic director of the Center Theater Group (Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson), came out of his latest "retirement" to direct Lessons. The combined talents of Graf, Linden, Laskin, and Davidson make for an enjoyable evening of theater.
This is the story of an ageing widowed shoe manufacturer, Ben (Linden), who has decided to learn Hebrew so that he may be Bar-Mitzvahed--the Jewish custom which occurs at the usual age of thirteen--whereby a boy reads the Torah (Bible) before a congregation in order to achieve status as a man. ( It has become popular for adults to sign up for this experience, never having performed it when they were younger.) Ruth (Laskin) is recommended to Ben as a teacher with whom he could study. She is a Rabbi, but through a series of circumstances which will be revealed, has now settled into a most private, reclusive life.
Although we are witnessing the interaction of these two wounded people, the jokes and humor come swiftly and often from Linden, who has been sharing his talents with us since the 50's. Meanwhile, important questions of life and death, faith and belief, religiosity and spirituality get an airing with important lessons being taught by each to the other.
In the Bible, Jacob's name is changed to Israel. The name "Israel" means, "one who wrestles with G-d." That concept becomes even clearer as the play unfolds. The questions and answers we are given when we observe the struggles of Ben and Ruth make the play important and meaningful.
All the technical assistance needed with any play is used most effectively here. J. Kent Inasy's lighting is wonderful, as usual; Michael Roth's music is just right; Daniel Wheeler's set design of a run-down Bainbridge Island apartment shows just how minimally people can live if they are not too interested in living; Joanie Coyote's costumes give further believability in the characters' identity. Watch how Davidson pulls the plug to conclude a scene at just the precise moment. All help create the splendid play Lessons is.
Says Ben in one of his poignant moments: "Sometimes, you get the understanding of a problem by stepping outside or keeping distance from it." Watching Lessons can be catharsis for a willing viewer.
Lessons Marilyn Monroe Theatre at Lee Strasberg Creative Center 7936 Santa Monica Blvd. (near Fairfax) West Hollywood 90046 Tel. 323-650-7777 Plays Thursday - Saturday @ 8:00 p.m.; Sunday @ 2:30 p.m.
No performance during week of December 10 Plays until Dec. 23 Tickets: $35; Seniors $32
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