I lost my notes on this play and I loved it. Let’s see if I can remember the core of
the play. First, let me say that
we were not looking forward to Jane Fonda’s performance because in her heyday,
she looked good but lacked depth in her performances. Well, like wine, aging has added depth. We were so pleasantly surprised.
Jane portrays a music professor who travels to Europe to
research the background of Beethoven’s composition. First, this is an entirely different world. In this play, people can read music
compositions and immediately envision the musicality that can come out of the
composition. I struggle reading music, but I can equate this ability with reading a book and in
partnership with the author, let my mind envision the characters, scenery and
emotions the author is trying to convey.
Complicating this story is that Jane’s character is
suffering from a degenerative disease.
Jane’s daughter resists the travel to Europe, but this is what Jane
wants to do. So this beautiful,
sophisticated, elegant genius of a woman slowly deteriorates in front of
us. It is awesomely scary and Jane
does a beautiful job portraying the slow degeneration and emotionally, I
struggled with the frustration she faced with a body that could not respond to
her mind.
Yet, she achieves the answer to the puzzle of the answer
behind Beethoven’s variations in his composition. I would see this again and again. I would join Jane in her struggle and the newfound respect
and love her daughter discovers in the end.
