2011 Season – Masks

Sight Unseen
by Donald Margulies

Directed by Mary Fawcett Watko

With Thurston Cobb, Jamie Miller, Shirley Panek, and Jeff Sprague

Winner of the 1992 Obie Award. This is the story of an American mega-artist so successful he’s had the obligatory profile in Vanity Fair and can claim astronomical prices for his works sight unseen from a waiting list of wealthy patrons. In England for a retrospective of his paintings, the artist goes into the countryside to visit his original muse and lover, the “sacrificial shiksa” whom he abandoned in his quest for the opulent life which now devours him.

Director’s Notes
Jonathan Waxman has struggled with his Jewish identity. Even as he enjoys the success of becoming a famous American artist and selling his paintings “sight unseen,” his insecurities and sense of having lost his way prevail. Jonathan decides to visit the lover he hasn’t seen in 15 years during the exhibition of his paintings at a London gallery. The fact that his ex-lover, Patricia, is now married to Nick, an Englishman, and living in a farmhouse where they both work on an archaeological dig makes for interesting conversation with conflicted feelings that simmer beneath the heated exchanges.

Sight Unseen is very much an ensemble piece and reveals the truth behind Nick and Patricia’s somewhat stale marriage. It hints at racial issues with anti-Semitic implications, and contains probing personal questions—delivered by Grete the German art critic—and informative conversations regarding “modern art” and the success of a ”visionary painter.” And the show holds many humorous moments along with its sad confessions of love lost.

The play will leave you to experience your own perspective on a number of issues without revealing ready answers. For me, the play validates how we are deeply influenced by others around us; choices instilled by our parents, family traditions, our own choices made—good and bad—and those choices that make us who and what we are now. Do you ever look back and say, “How did I get to where I am today?” It’s interesting as you get older to reflect and try to figure it all out; most of the time you have no idea that you are paving your way with important decisions that mold life’s journey.

The actors you will see on this stage have worked hard to reveal the emotions and hidden identities that lie in the depths of these complicated and ambiguous characters. Enjoy the performances in this stimulating play, and perhaps you will reflect on your own life’s journey and how you became who and where you are today. Life is good!