Happy Now? No, Not So Much
Marin Theatre Company advertises its new production, “Happy Now?” as a “scathingly funny new British play.” For those who revel in snarky British comedy, who go giddy waiting for the next Ayckbourn, these words inspire delicious hope. Unfortunately, “Happy Now?” doesn’t deliver. It’s familiar and edgy; it’s not funny.
This is the story of a career woman in the sandwich generation, pressed between the demands of her parents and her children. Do we all know Kitty? Have we even been Kitty? This is not a new story, but it is a new play.
Jasson Minadakis, MTC’s Artistic Director and the Director of this production, first saw Lucinda Coxon’s “Happy Now?” in 2005 in Atlanta. It had its world premiere in 2008 in London. The Mill Valley presentation is the play’s West Coast premiere.
In “Happy Now?” Kitty’s parents are long divorced. One is crazy, and one is always on the brink of dying. Her children are offstage, their voices amplified through the audience, and her husband is navigating his career change from successful lawyer to harried elementary school teacher. The couple’s social life centers around Miles, an alcoholic friend, and Bea, his despised wife. When the four are together, they drink a lot and tease Kitty’s gay best friend, Carl. The only character who seems happy at all is Michael, a character Kitty runs into at bars in the course of her work travels. Michael admits that he’s happy when he’s pursuing women outside of his marriage. He is now making moves on Kitty and predicts that she will change her mind about him. Is he right about that?
The story is essentially dark, but there are some laughs in it. When Carl’s out of earshot, Miles makes jokes about Carl’s twenty-something boyfriend, Tony. Says Miles, “You know what I see when I look in his eyes? The back of his head.” And the wall of paint swatches at Miles and Bea’s – each shade of beige almost identical to the next – brings chuckles of recognition. The biggest laugh, however, comes when Kitty visits her mother, and Mom bears a striking resemblance to Michael, mustache and all.
The play’s scenic designer, Melpomene Katakalos, has created a remarkable set of floating screens around a modern kitchen with bar. The screens change to suit the scene and mood, from a hotel bar to a giant, throbbing heart monitor. But the multi-cartoon backdrop for Mom’s house is baffling.
The acting in “Happy Now?” is superb. Kitty is played by Rosemary Garrison, who holds control over her nerve-shattered character. Kitty could be shrill, but Ms. Garrison keeps her in line. Alex Moggridge is Johnny, her sincere, idealistic and clueless husband. Miles, is portrayed in different shades of inebriation by the talented Mark Anderson Phillips. Millie Stickney is Bea, who appears to grow onstage. Steady, dependable Carl is played by Kevin Rolston, and Andrew Hurteau has the best part as the philandering Michael and as Kitty’s dotty mother.
But the play’s troubling first act never resolves, and the question in the title is never answered. We can only wonder what Ms. Coxon had in mind when she set out to write.
“Happy Now?” will play at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley through December 5. Shows are at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, and Sundays at 7 p.m. with matinees November 27 and December 2. Ticket prices range from $33 to $53. For complete information, see www.marintheatre.org or call the box office at 388-5208.