Nancy Redman stars in her solo show, A Séance with Mom, directed by Austin Pendleton, at the Chain Studio Theatre.
Actress-playwright-comedian Nancy Redman has returned to the Chain Studio Theatre for the third run of her one-woman show, A Séance with Mom. Directed by Austin Pendleton, the piece is performed on a bare stage, with only a chair, small table, and walker at its side. Its six characters are conjured up by Redman with her expressive voice, elastic face, and physical comedy. Redman, who has been described as a cross-fertilization of Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx, steers clear of politics, preferring to take a deep dive into family relationships and the human condition.
Redman, as Nadine, prepares to sing a Noel Coward song in A Séance with Mom, at Chain Studio Theatre.
In this solo show, a woman named Nadine summons her mother from the grave to tell her a secret that is both important and unsettling. Nadine first appears cleaning some closets; then she falls asleep in a chair in her living room. When she wakes up, she’s startled to see an elderly rabbi who has been sent “because she asked for God’s help.” Without further ado, he invites her to participate in a spiritual intervention with him, a Jewish séance; he will serve as medium, and Nadine will simply wait for the arrival of her late mother, Gussie Plotnick.
But simple it is not! His first attempt to summon up Nadine’s mother leads to the appearance of the wrong Gussie Plotnick, an ambitious ghost who promises to clean up Nadine’s home in three hours. The rabbi’s second attempt, this time abetted by Nadine’s singing of Noel Coward’s “If Love Were All,” hits the bull’s-eye. Her mom enters the space, complimenting her daughter on her voice—Gussie was a professional singer in her day. However, she kvetches that Nadine has called her away just when she was “talking with God.” In spite of her mother’s irascibility, Nadine seizes the moment to find out about her mother’s post-mortem life. She starts with the basics:
Redman, who wrote and stars in her solo show, A Séance with Mom, has been described as a cross-fertilization of Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx.
Nadine: How are you?
Gussie: Dead!
Nadine: How is death?
Gussie: The same.
What makes Redman so effective is not only that she’s totally committed to what she is doing, but that she’s able to persuade an audience that her characters live in a tangible reality. She might not be as physically dynamic on stage as when she was younger, but she makes up for it with potent jokes and edgy delivery. Indeed, Redman’s work hovers between comedy and tragedy, turning a groan into a grin in a nanosecond. What’s more, nothing spoken in the piece sounds hackneyed. Her characters blurt out what percolates in the minds of many people, but for decorum’s sake, they refrain from stating. It’s Redman’s speaking truth that makes her comedy refreshing and cathartic.
In her current 90-minute piece, the audience gets to know what is rattling around in the heads of Redman’s homespun characters, including how they feel about love, sex, loneliness, religion, and more. Besides meeting Nadine, a deceased and unnamed rabbi, and two Gussie Plotnicks, the audience also is treated to cameo performances from God and the late renowned actor Max von Sydow, who starred as Jesus in the 1965 film The Greatest Story Ever Told. Redman’s transitions from one character to another are seamless. If there’s any quibble, it’s that Redman’s monologue is a tad too long and could be trimmed.
One of the most affecting moments in the piece is when Nadine tells her mother that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It takes not only nerve on Nadine’s part but the intuition for sensing the right time during the séance to divulge this unpleasant news. But what Nadine inevitably discovers is that some hard facts of life can’t be softened, and that her mom will dodge any truth that she chooses not to hear. With that in mind, Nadine bluntly initiates what may be the most painful conversation ever with her mother:
In A Séance with Mom, actor-playwright-comedian Redman inhabits six characters. Photographs by Jonathan Slaff.
Nadine: I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Gussie: Ridiculous, Nadine. No one in our family has MS.
Nadine: No one except me. I am doing good, Mom. It’s been 15 years since diagnosed and—
Gussie: This is nonsense.
Spoiler alert! Although early on it seems that Nadine is the one who’s desperately seeking companionship, later on Gussie appears to be much lonelier than she first admits. While it would be unfair to share too much of the ending, it is deeply poignant, inviting one to reconsider death as a mask that our absent loved ones wear.
In A Séance with Mom Nancy Redman brings a refreshing levity to grave matters. One can only wonder what is next for the ever-amazing performer.
The Chain Theatre production of A Séance with Mom plays through Sept. 3 at the Chain Studio Theatre (312 W. 36th St.). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; matinees are at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. For tickets and information, visit onthestage.tickets/show/self2/6490f53de13b0d0e55f4bf30/tickets.
Playwright: Nancy Redman
Direction: Austin Pendleton
