REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER
PICTURES BY PHILIP KUHN
It’s almost 16 years since director Alan Swerdlow first staged the heartwarming Tuesdays with Morrie (published in 1997) with Graham Hopkins and Asher Stoltz starring in the popular two-hander, also at this theatre.
He has again hit gold with his casting of father and son Michael Richard and Jeremy Richard.
He already had a winning formula with a beautifully written text that opens with a mentor and his student shooting the breeze and promising at the graduation of the young charge, to keep in touch.
A few decades on, the younger man has landed on his feet and is fully engaged in his career when he re-discovers his ageing, forgotten friend who is dying. And this is where the story settles and soars in an exchange of valuable life lessons.
It might sound trite or simply too obvious, but the author is clever. He keeps the banter smart and the pace steady.
With the two Richard men, as I thought it would, the play gains in energy and an authentic familiarity. They aimed straight for the heart in this one as father and son match each other in temperament and performance. Being family, they could immediately adopt their characters.
What a thrill to see the older Richard grab onto Morrie’s time of life with such gusto as the younger man grows in empathy while listening and experiencing some harsh life lessons.
He had let go of Morrie’s wisdom in his youthful enthusiasm to carve a career and returned at a time when he was ready not only to listen but also to engage.
It’s a play of seasons, as one character grows old and the other gains knowledge by witnessing the process. It’s there in everyone’s life, whether from the young or older side. The experience obviously changes, but as Morrie shows, as tough as it might get, it’s how you approach and live your life that matters.
As their ages also determine their experience, Michael has tackled Morrie’s deteriorating health with remarkable skill and balance. There’s no softening of the process but the risk also lies in getting the balance just right. It’s so easy to let go and to lose the humanity of this kind of character. It’s a performance of great maturity.
It’s a delight to witness Jeremy’s ease and confidence in a role that is trickier than it seems. Keeping his character authentic was his challenge, and he met this with the full-blooded transformation of a young man who suddenly finds himself out of his depth yet understands the gravity of the circumstances, not only for his mentor but also for his own future.
It’s a lovely play when we’re all rushed to get everything done before the year runs out. We all need to slow down, but there’s no time for that.
Tuesdays with Morrie reminds us to make time for the important relationships which enrich our time, and with the set design by Wilhelm Disbergen also enhancing the story of a life worn but well lived, the Richard duo lean into the tale with a thread spanning toughness and tenderness that turns this into a tale that warms the heart.
Kudos to impresario Daphne Kuhn, director Alan Swerdlow and the Richard father and son.
Tuesdays with Morrie runs until November 22
