NO wonder Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Marvel have gotten hurt performing Michael Weller’s “Fifty Words,” which opened last night. As Adam and Jan, a married couple who endure one very long night of domestic discord, they incur enough physical and emotional violence to make George and Martha’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” union seem restrained.
“Well, that’s marriage,” Adam sighs late in the evening. “Two people who disappoint each other, but not quite enough to go their own way.”
The couple has decided to take advantage of the first-time absence of their young son, who’s on a sleepover. But what’s intended to be an evening of physical passion and emotional reconnection quickly goes awry, falling victim to longtime recriminations and the unveiling of lies and infidelity.
Unfortunately, the play never quite convinces, due to endless, quicksilver tonal shifts: This is one couple that can veer from post-coital bliss to brutal attacks within seconds.
Under Austin Pendleton’s sturdy direction, both actors deliver fiercely passionate and highly physical performances that go a long way toward overcoming the writing’s rough patches, even though all that roughhousing makes you fear for their safety.
Marvel, in particular, bares herself – at one point, literally – with raw power. Indeed, when Jan tells Adam he “has no right to live,” one wonders whether the evening will turn even darker than it already is.
FIFTY WORDS