The Memory of Water explores depths of sadness

Review by Joe Siegel

Perhaps the most difficult thing you will ever have to deal with in your lifetime is the death of a parent. The psychological toll can be overwhelming when you attempt to comprehend the enormity of the loss.

“The Memory of Water,” now being performed by Burbage Theatre Company, is a drama about three sisters preparing for the funeral of their mother.

Allison Crews is Mary, a deeply troubled woman who encounters the ghost of her mother, Vi (Director Lynne Collinson, filling in for Carol Schlink). Mary guzzles whiskey out of a bottle and wears sunglasses in bed.

Teresa (Rae Mancini) is hopelessly neurotic and recites recipes as a way to handle the stress of planning a funeral. She also takes tranquilizers.

Catherine (Valerie Westgate), the youngest sister with a hideous sense of fashion, offers marijuana to Teresa in order to calm her down. She’s a free-spirited force of nature and boasts about the men she’s slept with.

A subplot involves Mike (Aaron Morris), Mary’s boyfriend with an ailing wife. When Mary reveals she is pregnant, Mike makes a stunning confession.

Playwright Shelagh Stephenson provides witty dialogue for the characters as they reminisce in their mother’s bedroom. Resentments from the past are brought to the surface. Secrets are shared.

“The Memory of Water” ponders the ways our memories can become distorted over time.

“Your memories aren’t the same as mine,” Vi tells Mary.

One of the best scenes has Mary, Teresa, and Catherine joyfully rummaging through Vi’s closet and trying on her clothes. The sisters lounge on the bed and share some laughs in a brief interlude from their grief.

The performances are all first-rate.

Crews (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”) is compelling as Mary has to deal with a flood of dilemmas. Mary learns to find some stability and fulfillment in her life after suffering a devastating loss.

Westgate steals every scene as Catherine rages at her sisters for what she feels is unfair treatment. Catherine initially acts flippant about Vi’s death but slowly reveals the pain she has been holding onto for years. Catherine is sometimes hilarious and always exciting to watch.

Mancini is also powerfully effective as Teresa gets drunk and reveals a tragedy from Mary’s past. She also berates her long-suffering husband Frank (Brien Lang), a health food supplements salesman who travels around the world.

There’s a very funny moment when Frank reveals he hated Woody Allen’s classic film “Hannah and Her Sisters.” Teresa is horrified by his deception and they argue about a joke in the film.

Lang and Mancini play very well off each other as their marriage threatens to crack under the strain of Teresa’s selfishness.

Collinson and these performers skillfully navigate a maze of comedy and tragedy for two hours. That’s quite an accomplishment.

The Memory of Water runs through February 8. Burbage Theatre Company. 59 Blackstone Avenue. Pawtucket, RI. Runtime is 2 hours with intermission. For tickets, call 401-484-0355 or info@burbagetheatre.org.

All photos courtesy of Burbage Theatre Company.

Allison Crews, Rae Mancini, Valerie Westgate.

Allison Crews and Valerie Westgate.

Aaron Morris and Allison Crews.