Written by Albee in the midst of completing The American Dream, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and The American Dream all make a return for Grandma’s final moments of life at the “beach.” While both plays on the bill are immensely satisfying (for the audience – the characters make very clear that they receive little satisfaction these days), it is The Sandbox that really fulfils all the promises of what Beresh refers to as his “absurd, post-modernist, post-structuralist baby.” Needless to say, he fully fits Mommy’s requirements. Unfortunately, she has no idea what sort of business brings her to the apartment, but after a little hinting and a lot of cunning from Grandma she successfully delivers a new bumble – the “clean-cut, Midwest farm boy type” young man played flawlessly by Cory Lipman. Barker, played by the ever-energetic Maija Whitney. The American Dream begins as the couple are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mrs. Mommy and Daddy had a “bumble” of joy (or bundle, perhaps?) once, but it was defective, and finally died, so they have to buy a new one.
All of this is contrasted by a straight line of bare, low-hanging incandescent bulbs that shed light on Mommy and Daddy’s eerily dark past. The blue and gold floor tiles are jagged around the edges, the fireplace is boarded up, the window hangs crooked, and the johnny (the toilet) still hasn’t been fixed in what otherwise appears as an expensive home. Player’s Theatre’s mounting of The American Dream and The Sandbox, both written by Edward Albee and now directed by Dan Beresh, leave you with an urge to run to your grandma to see if the world is really as it appears.Ĭonstructed by Alex Rivers, the production’s striking set instantly throws you into a world where appearances are struggling to be maintained.