Beautiful Cages at The Magnetic Theatre
The premise of Jamie Knox’s Beautiful Cages almost seems like it was made specifically for The Magnetic Theatre.
Alternating between present day and the mid-1960s, the complex story focuses on Patricia (Emily Sansbury) and her desire to finally tell her daughter Amanda (Brandi Andrade) the truth about her father. Amanda has been under the impression that he abandoned the two of them when she was a baby and never wanted anything to do with her, when the opposite is actually true. Amanda oscillates between wanting to know the truth and wanting to believe the lies she’s always known, and her own daughter, Jesse (Gaia Eggert), encourages her to go with the first option. Andrade shines here, as she conveys (seemingly) a lifetime of Patricia’s dramatics, lending some comic relief to an otherwise dramatic tale.
Knox then flashes back to the ’60s, with Patty (Stephanie Nusbaum) planning her upcoming nuptials with Roger (Evan Eckstrom) — which, in current context, is a little on the cringe-inducing side, seeing as Patty was 16 and Roger was in the process of finishing his med school residency. But the two clearly adore each other, and Roger even makes jokes about converting to Catholicism just so he can marry Patty.
As the wedding day approaches, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson (David Mycoff and CJ Breland) fawn over the couple, with Mama Wilson giving Patty advice on how to be a proper WASP wife, with tips ranging from the number of cocktails that Patty should have to how to respond the first time Roger hits her. (Yes, I did indeed cringe at that, too.) The dynamic between Breland and Nusbaum highlights just how different their characters’ lives have been up to this point. After missing Roger’s and Patty’s wedding, Roger’s younger brother James (Adam Olson) returns home briefly from being stationed overseas, leading the family down a tumultuous path.
Beautiful Cages’ first half is fantastic as far as pacing goes, with ’60s pop music playing during set changes — part of sound designer Scott Bean’s overall mastery of transitions. And the set itself — many pieces of which are on loan from Asheville High School’s theater department — help define the present day setting of Patricia’s apartment and the Wilson home of the past, so kudos to Walker Linkous on the design work. Under the direction of Mandy Bean, the story comes across clearly, even if I did find the second half a bit disjointed and rushed. It feels like there’s far more to the story than what’s presented that might help explain the choices that many characters make.
The brief synopsis on the Magnetic website mentions family secrets, and, as someone who’s been discovering more of those over the last few years among her own relatives, they further enhanced this heart-wrenching story with moments of levity and humor.
Beautiful Cages runs through Saturday, Sept. 24, at The Magnetic Theatre. For details and tickets, visit themagnetictheatre.org.
(Photo by Cheyenne Dancy)
