Reviews

Torrid love stories between artists are nothing new so this telling of the relationship between photographer Alfred Stieglitz and painter Georgia O’Keeffe should not surprise too many fans of such fare. If it weren’t because it’s so well done, it wouldn’t surprise us either, but then again, the case is top rate and the venue is one of the most elegant houses around, with its art gallery and French bakery surrounding it.

Pamela Gaye Walker is excellent as O’Keeffe, the ambitious, insecure painter who was never happy with her reviews, seldom happy with her work and frustrated in her life. Although Steiglitz was her life’s love, she resented needing him to feel capable of painting. The fact that he was easily twenty-five years her senior is often brought out, if for no other reason than to show the anchor that he provided in her life.

Jim Ortieb’s portrayal of Stieglitz is a sympathetic, loving, almost tender person, belying the fact that he was such a powerful force in establishing photography as art and in bringing unknowns to the forefront (like Picasso, among others).

The play starts with Stieglitz’s death, and flashes back to the time when they first met, following their eventual union, marital wars and eventual separation. The chemistry between the actors is explosive, and their dialogue is so flowing we sometimes feel as if we are uncomfortably eavesdropping on them. There are moments when we side with one, then with the other, but always remain mindful that we are sharing the innermost thoughts and feelings of two giants of American art. Especially moving was the scene when she tells him her decision to have a child, and we see the pain she feels at his uncertainty at being a father at his age, as well as her insecurity as not being sure how this will affect her art, or even her life.

Lanie Robertson’s love story is crafted with careful research and cradled with genuine admiration, as she takes pains to give us intelligent dialogue and meaningful exchanges which help develop the characters. Director Mary-Pat Green takes the script and guides the actors in a careful journey so we can clearly see how they develop and how they eventually get to their respective conclusions. The production serves as a worthy showcase for the talents of the actors, writer and director, but more as a journey into the intimate lives of two people who were years ahead of their time in their professions and in their outlook on personal relationships.