Designing women

Beginning Jan. 31, the recently renovated Geffen Playhouse in
Westwood will provide its audiences with a rare opportunity. The
L.A. premiere of “Boston Marriage,” written and
directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, will
feature three critically acclaimed actresses known principally for
their work on film who are taking a turn on the stage ““
Rebecca Pidgeon, Alicia Silverstone and Mary Steenburgen.

The play takes place toward the end of the 19th century, when
the term “Boston marriage” was a euphemism for two
women living together without the apparent support or companionship
of men.

Anna and Claire, two women of high society, played by
Steenburgen and Pidgeon respectively, spice up their otherwise
banal domestic lives with lies, deceit and seduction. These events
are interspersed with the appropriately raunchy wit and verbal
abuse of their maid Catherine, played by Silverstone.

All three actresses, despite their backgrounds in film, are
thrilled to be working on a stage production where the rehearsal
and performance processes differ greatly from film production.

“On stage, you get to keep working on the project,”
Silverstone said. “You keep discovering things, it keeps
changing.”

There will be ample time for the cast to work on the piece
during its two-month run, until March 12.

“This has been one of the great gifts of my own
career,” Steenburgen said of this particular theater
experience. “I’ve started in theater, and I go back and
do plays as often as I can. This time, I am working with a master
director and writer that inspire me. It has been an absolutely
incredible experience and I’m so glad.”

Aside from its witty humor and suspenseful plot, “Boston
Marriage” also deals with several issues that are still
relevant today. On the surface, the play is about two women in a
sexual relationship at a time when such things were neither
acceptable nor discussed.

All three actresses, however, believe that there is much more to
their characters than their social positions or sexual orientation,
and that it was not Mamet’s intention for them to be the
focus of the piece.

“It’s about intimacy and love and about
marriage,” Pidgeon said of the play’s underlying
topics.

Steenburgen agrees with Pidgeon. “It doesn’t matter
that they’re both women,” she said. “It is about
two people who have lived together for a very long time and have a
conflict bringing out the best and worst in them.”

Silverstone highlighted a slightly different topic, pointing out
that during the play’s time period two women living together,
whether or not they were in a sexual relationship, could be doing
so as a protest against marriage.

“In this particular period, when a woman got married to a
man, she was going to be his servant,” Silverstone said.
“These characters are pioneers for equality for women,
because they didn’t want to become servants. They were the
feminists of the time.”

Although it addresses social issues, “Boston
Marriage” never ceases to entertain, with a constant rapport
between Anna and Claire, and Catherine’s candidly honest
interjections.

The cast also relishes the opportunity to delve into the
artfully constructed text, and use it to develop their characters.
“David (Mamet) is known for the special way in which he uses
language,” Steenburgen said. “During rehearsal, the
emphasis is on deriving understanding from the language, and
speaking the language. It is about what you want instead of who you
are, and that takes care of developing the character.”

Pidgeon, who originated the role of Claire in the play’s
1999 premiere run, has discovered over time the uniqueness of her
character among the other women.

“I realized slowly that my character is the more masculine
character, and that was a challenge because she doesn’t have
those classically female traits of wanting to create stability or
harmony in the home,” Pidgeon said. “She wants to go
out and conquer, and push her love into the world.”

Silverstone particularly enjoys using the language of the
period.

“They really used language as an art form and as a
diversion,” she said. “What’s really neat about
performing a period piece is that you’re saying things that
we never say anymore.”

The Geffen’s production of “Boston Marriage”
will give its audiences the chance to watch three celebrated
actresses performing a very personal piece of theater.

“It is both very professional and very intimate,”
Silverstone said.