LEFT ON TENTH

Review by Celia Ipiotis

After countless attempts to get a human at Verizon to reconnect her internet, Delia Ehron (Julianna Margulies) writes a scathing article on her experience for the NYT. Once the article is published, Verizon snaps-to and all  is well with her computer. But Delia remains unsettled. Emotionally frayed, she’s trying to cope with life after her husband’s death. 

Set in a gracious, book lined room (by Beowulf Boritt) and framed by projections of the sky outside her window, we see leafy trees, lazily swaying in the dappled sunlight. Playing a major role, the projections (by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew) establish time, place and memory as do the sets that stretch from the inside of Greenwich apartment to Central Park, the 9/11 Memorial and hospital. Delia draws the audience in by breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to them. When recalling the time she and her husband took tap dance classes together, a silhouette projection of a man materializes on the back wall while Delia tosses off a little soft shoe routine; a refrain repeated throughout the production.

Two major developments upend her life. Because of her Times article, Delia meets a wonderful, age-appropriate psychiatrist, Peter (Peter Gallagher) —  a widower who embraces feminism and the ways couples can support one another. First through emails and then in-person, Peter works his way into Delia’s trust until she finally succumbs to his charm and genuine goodness–not to mention, his truly fine dancing.

Just when life looks grand, Delia gets an unexpected verdict: she, like her sister Nora, is diagnosed with leukemia, a virulent blood cancer that requires a bone marrow transplant. Intent on being her caretaker, Peter comes to NYC and camps out in her hospital room for the whole ordeal. Her struggles are familiar to anyone who has experienced this kind of nail biting scenario. Chemo and marrow transplant cause unpredictable ups and downs–the results of an unpredictable disease.

Filling out the cast are two other great actors Peter Francis James and Kate MacCluggage who play multiple characters in whiplash time in a  panoply of wigs, costumes and vocal and physical accents.

Written by Delia Ephrom, director Susan Stroman seamlessly integrates the action inside the brisk storytelling. Facing the audience, Delia breaks the fourth wall occasionally speaking directly to her audience. Although at first, Margulies appears a bit awkward, she fits the role of the high strung New Yorker. The expert theater actor Peter Gallagher, effortlessly navigates the stage and looks particularly comfortable when he dances. Both are engaging and project a believable chemistry. 

Very much a NYC love story, Left on Tenth actually never pokes into the characters’ psyches. Even during the most harrowing days in the hospital, Delia and Peter remain insistently upbeat. Tears are never shed, voices never raised. Perhaps Delia really was a perpetually sunny person (except when she spoke to Verizon).

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis