33 Variations

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.