In the Garden:
A Darwinian Love Story
Written by Sara Gmitter
Directed by Jessica Thebus
Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan (map)
thru June 29 | tickets: $45-$70 | more info
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Now extended through June 29th!
More didactic debate than compelling drama
Lookingglass Theatre presents
In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story
Review by Catey Sullivan
It’s easy to forget just how explosive and utterly terrifying Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was when the brilliant scientist first published it in 1859. The revolutionary volume did no less than call into question everything people thought about how the world was ordered and created.
Sara Gmitter‘s In the Garden takes on the seismic shifts in thinking Darwin catalyzed, focusing her lens on the relationship between Darwin and his highly intelligent, fervently Christian wife Emma. But while Lookingglass’ production is beautifully staged and filled with performances rich in empathy and complexity, In the Garden is more didactic debate than compelling drama.
Directed by Jessica Thebus, In the Garden looks sumptuous. But even the most lavishly realized costumes (vibrantly designed by Mara Blumenfeld), gorgeously apropos set (Collette Pollard) and consistently top-drawer actors can’t obscure the artifice that mars purple prose-inspired dialog and a plot that holds few unexpected twists. That’s a shame, given that Darwin’s work is so undeniably, inherently thrilling. The questions he probed – Where did we come from? Why do some people flourish while others die young? And where is God when bad things happen to good people? – are both timeless and infinitely intriguing. But their presentation here, however intelligently and prettily presented, are static.
Gmitter opens her narrative on a pre-pubescent Charles (John Francis Babbo) collecting and observing bugs (beetles, to be exact), noting their forms and functions with intense curiosity and wonder. His explorations draw the admiration of his bright young cousin Emma Wedgwood (Caroline Heffernan) , a devout Christian whose heart and mind are anchored in her religious beliefs even as a child.
Matching set designer Pollard’s dreamlike melding of an elegant Victorian parlor with a verdant, flowering garden, the story then skips over a decade into the future. Now in his late 20s, Charles, (Andrew White), has just returned from his voyage on the Beagle, the five-year trip that took him (among other places) to the Galapagos Islands where his study of the singular indigenous flora and fauna shaped the ideas that would become “On the Origin of Species.”
Emma (Rebecca Spence) is a whirl of affection and questions, keenly interested in his adventures. The spark between the two is palpable, and it comes as no surprise when Charles – with the same analytic objectiveness that he applies to science – proposes marriage to her.
What ensues is a love story between two highly intelligent, articulate people whose oppositional religious views lead to lots of highly intelligent, articulate dialog. In the Garden continues on its pleasant, brainy way until tragedy befalls the Darwins. It wouldn’t do to give away the particulars of the event (although even a cursory student of Darwin will know), so suffice to say it leads to exchanges that are as moving as they are provocative between Emma and Charles. When Emma admits that nothing but "silence" has answered her impassioned prayers, the moment is both heartbreaking and, for Charles, a bitter validation of his views about the ways of an omniscient creator.
Thebus’ cast also includes veteran actors Cindy Gold and Austin Tichenor, who play half a dozen or so characters between them. They’re both terrific, but the myriad roles portrayed feel as if they’re written more to present talking points than represent multi-faceted characters. Fleshing out many of Gmitter’s debate scenes, Tichenor and Gold essentially become talking heads, devices through which Gmitter can outline the mindsets of those who found Darwin’s work subversive or sacrilegious.
The primary strength of In the Garden lies in White’s endearing depiction of Darwin. In capturing the man behind the legend, White creates a wonderfully relatable father, husband, and publicity-averse scientist who is made physically sick by the whirlwind of controversy created by his theory. In White’s portrayal, Darwin is as vulnerable as he is brilliant; he’s delightfully playful with his children all while being obsessively studious with his research.
Spence’s Emma is so lovely you almost overlook the deeper aspects of her personality. When she exclaims to Darwin that "Your eyes have seen more of God’s creation than anyone else I have ever known," it’s tough not to wonder where that inquisitiveness and wonder would have led had she not been relegated to the strict Victorian woman’s roles of wife and mother.
Yet despite strong performances and the clever poetry that imbues much of the dialog ("Divine Providence is not an answer. It is an excuse not to look for answers."), In the Garden is more pedantic than passionate.
If you’re a student of Darwin – or if you’ve been lucky enough to spend any time wandering among the extraordinary creatures of the Galapagos Islands where Darwin did some of his most important research – you’ll find In the Garden fascinating. For the rest, In the Garden is an excellent example of a scientific debate that became, much to Darwin’s dismay, "an ideological brawl. "
Rating: ★★½
In the Garden continues through June 15th June 29th at Water Tower Works, Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan (map), with performances Wednesdays-Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are $45-$70, and are available by phone (312.337.0665) or online through PrintTixUSA.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More info at LookingglassTheatre.org. (Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Liz Lauren
artists
cast
Andrew White (Charles Darwin), John Francis Babbo (Young Charles, others), Cindy Gold (Harriet, others), Caroline Heffernan (Young Emma, others), Rebecca Spence (Emma Darwin), Austin Tichenor (Dr. Darwin, others).
behind the scenes
Jessica Thebus (director), Collette Pollard (scenic designer), Mara Blumenfeld (costume design), JR Lederle (lighting design), Andre Pluess (composer, sound design), Sarah Burnham (properties design), Tess Golden (stage manager), Joel Hobson (production manager), Chad Hain (technical director), Jeri Frederickson (asst. stage manager), Liz Lauren (photos)
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