Arts Review: 'The Hasty Heart'
The first five minutes of “The Hasty Heart” are like a game of ‘Guess the Dialect.’ The show centers on a group of wounded allied soldiers in a mobile surgery unit at the end of World War II. The inhabitants of the ward initially are Yank, from Georgia, Digger, from Australia, Kiwi, from New Zealand, Blossom, who is African and does not speak English, and Tommy, who is from England. Being English myself and with a pretty good ear for dialects, I am always slightly on the edge of my seat when numerous accents have to be used in a show. This is particularly true when each character has a different dialect; it is very easy as an actor to listen to someone else and slip into their way of speaking. To these actors’ absolute credit, the dialects were very near perfect, same for the English nurse in the ward, Margaret, played by Amy Addams Stocking.
Written in 1944 and first staged in 1945, “The Hasty Heart” is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick’s experiences in an ambulance unit on the Burma front. “The Hasty Heart” ran on Broadway for more than 200 performances and had an off-Broadway revival in 2004. The 1949 movie version starred Ronald Reagan. Hale Centre Theatre performed the show in 1989 and brought it back by audience request.
The unit, at first, is established as a relatively harmonious place to be. The patients gently josh each other but are fast friends. The unity of the environment is shattered when Scottish soldier Lachlen ‘Lachie’ McLachlen (Magarin Hobson) joins them. The rest of the group has been told that Lachie has only one barely functioning kidney and only a few weeks to live, but he does not know this information himself. The show charts the journey of Lachie’s initial abrasiveness, which gives way to a bonding with the rest of the unit until he is told of his plight and learns the rest of the group knew all along.
The success of this play depends on strong performances and this is achieved mostly across the board. The five soldiers who are in the unit from the beginning create a lovely bond; there are some really funny moments but they also transition easily to the play’s more heart-wrenching segments. I particularly appreciated Cameron Aaron Asay as Yank. The actor has an excellent sense of comic timing, and also there is a scene towards the end where we really get to see his chops as an actor. Shelby T. Maughan as Tommy also made me laugh out loud with his dead-on portrayal of a bumbling Londoner.
Stocking playing Margaret also turns in a solid performance which reminded me of Kate Beckinsale in “Pearl Harbor.” Her dialect doesn’t waver and she navigates with elegance her journey from being professional but friendly with her patients to falling in love with Lachie.
The only actor I really wished would dig deeper into his role was Hobson as the abrasive Scot. His performance was technically outstanding — he nailed the very difficult Scottish dialect and his tongue-twister lines were delivered smoothly. But it’s a role with a huge arc; the actor must go from extremely angry and defensive to soft and loving and back again while exploring all the colors in between. It’s a huge task for an actor to achieve a technically excellent performance but also be totally in the moment. For example, in the lead up to the first kiss with Margaret, I wanted him to raise the stakes so we could feel the chemistry between them. I hope that as the run goes on, Hobson will be able to go further so we can truly read on his face the rainbow of emotions the character goes through.
I must also mention that there is a very high bar set for actors on the Hale stage because the production values are always so opulent it’s easy to forget you’re not watching a Broadway show. In this case, the set by Kacey Udy doesn’t move around but it is intricately dressed.
Director John A. Adams does a good job in staging the piece with the inevitable constraints of the set; the theater is in the round, so because the beds in the unit are stationary, it can be tough to see some of the actors faces depending on where you are sitting. But he moves his actors round as much as possible.
The costumes by Peggy Willis are gorgeous and I enjoyed the atmospheric lighting design by Adam Flitton and sound design by Dan Morgan.
The production, as usual, is double cast and I would be fascinated to see it again with the other actors. I would also like to go back and see it later with the same cast; I suspect that when Hobson settles fully into his role the show will make that leap from very good to absolutely life-altering.
You Should Go:
“The Hasty Heart”
presented by Hale Centre Theatre
Where • Hale Centre Theatre (3333 S. Decker Lake Drive)
When • Through Saturday, May 28. Monday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with matinées every Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. and occasional weekdays at 4 p.m.
Tickets • $15 - $28 from halecentretheatre.org, via telephone at 801.984.9000 or at the Hale Centre Theatre box office at 3333 South Decker Lake Drive.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Back to top »
