Acting tour de force at the New rep

Blackberry Winter, a new play having its “rolling” world premiere at the New Rep is a one-woman tour de force. The concept is simple: Adrianne Krstansky plays Vivienne, a middle-aged woman who is primary care giver of her mother, who is suffering from advancing Alzheimer’s dementia. The actress speaks directly to the audience, describing her mother’s situation and all the attendant stresses. The playwright clearly has either been down this road or has close friends who have done so, as the descriptions ring very true to a primary care physician caring for such patients and their families. We become familiar with Vivienne’s sister and husband through her descriptions and get a picture of the assisted living facility in which her mother is staying until her condition progresses and she must go to a nursing home. The pain and conflict of the daughter are heart-rendingly portrayed by Ms. Krstansky. There is also a “play-within-the-play:” a myth supposedly thought up by the daughter to explain the origins of Alzheimer’s disease using a white egret and a gray mole played by Paula Langton and Ken Cheeseman. The talents of these two fine actors is largely wasted in their scenes, which seem pointlessly engrafted, perhaps to give the star a moment to catch her emotional breath. While depressing in its veracity, this play is worth seeing if only for the talented Ms. Krstansky.