The (extremely long) Road to Mecca

I can see the appeal of this Athol Fugard play. The subject matter is quite interesting, and on the page I'm sure it's literary value is apparent. In this Roundabout Theater Production helmed by director Gordon Edelstein it is nearly unbearable to sit through.

Roundabout bills the play as such: In a desolate stretch of the Karoo Desert in South Africa, an elderly woman has turned her home into a highly personal work of art. The townspeople are threatened by her eccentricity and want to send her to an old age home, but a younger woman, a kindred spirit, wants to save the woman and her home.

This is a three person play, but for the majority of the show it is a two person play. The two woman are Miss Helen (Rosemary Harris) the aging artist in question, and Elsa Barlow (Carla Gugino) a younger woman from the city who spent a number of years living with Miss Helen. The third person is that of Marius Byleveid (Jim Dale) the reverend who is attempting to remove Miss Helen from her home and bring her to a retirement house.

Miss Helen and Reverend Byleveid are Afrikaans, descendants of the dutch settlers of South Africa - an extremely religious sect at that. Elsa is a more modern woman, descending from the British. This plays an important part in their respective world views.

It's important to note that this play is based on an actual living (now dead) person, Miss Helen. Her story is very interesting and is brought to brilliant life by Rosemary Harris. The problem is in the direction which is very one dimensional and dry, and also the writing, which is basically a series of monologues that the characters deliver to one another.

Even when the third character enters (a breath of fresh air), most of the dialogue is monologues rather than conversational. The conversational dialogue is interesting and brightens up the play, as does Jim Dales serio-comic portrayal of Marius. Overall you just can't wait for them to finally reach the end of the road so you can get the hell out of the theater (several people left during intermission).

The set and costume design by Michael H. Yeargan and Susan Hilferty are spot on, particularly the set design which seeks to capture the spirit of the art of Miss Helen without being garish to the audience. I wonder what this production would have been like with better pacing and a director who knew how to move things along a little better and create interesting stage pictures rather than people just standing around talking.

This play closed on Broadway at The American Airlines Theater on March 4 2012. Don't expect to see it nominated for any Tonys.