Tracy Letts’ Linda Vista—staged as a centerpiece of Animus Theatre Company’s striking “Twelve Hours with Tracy Letts” marathon at the Circle in the Square Theatre—remains funny, deeply uncomfortable, and unsparing look at the anxieties of the modern male ego.
Centering on Wheeler, a fiercely opinionated yet profoundly un-self-aware 50-year-old divorcee navigating a midlife spiral from the confines of his new San Diego apartment, the play strips away the polite veneer of midlife reinvention.
Stripped down to its essence in the unique, intimate thrust configuration of the Circle in the Square, Letts’ sharp dialogue takes center stage, trading heavy production polish for raw, immediate human friction.
The reading exposes the midlife crisis not as a tragic romance, but as a comedic, trainwreck-style collision of misplaced nostalgia and frank sexual politics.
In this crisp presentation directed by Jeanne Slater, the cast handles Letts’ rhythmic, acidic prose with absolute mastery.
Thomas Sadoski anchors the reading with a balanced portrayal of Wheeler, capturing both the exhausting arrogance and the pathetic, vulnerable undercurrents of a man desperate to reconcile who he has become with who he thinks he should be.
Flanked by sharp, dynamic performances from an ensemble featuring Beanie Feldstein and Karen Sours Albisua, the staging expertly maximizes the tension and uncomfortable laughter that ripples through an audience when a character’s delusions hit a bit too close to home.
It is a testament to Letts’ fundamental grasp of human psychology that Linda Vista can feel so thoroughly unhinged yet deeply, warmly human, leaving the audience electrified by the sheer weight of its spoken truths.
Jack Berenholtz, Brad Lemons, Libby Lee and Terra Mackintosh also stars in this compelling, yet funny play.
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