‘So Careless’ is a careful character study

Clare Aukofer / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: March 21, 2008

What differs one to the other is the extent and depth of the damage, how

it's dealt with and how the wounds mend - or don't.

University of Virginia playwright Doug Grissom speaks to damaged people in his play "So Careless," which opened in the Helms Theatre on Thursday.

He deals with a snapshot, a moment in time, of four women - two daughters, a friend, a mother.

Hester hasn't left the house in a year. Her younger sister, Berkeley, has taken the opposite route, escaping time after time to different men and different places, but always coming back, at least for a while.

Their mother, Meg, appears to have stayed in a routine but she, too, is struggling.

There is a common catalyst, or at least seems to be, but each deals not just with that trauma but with themselves and how they handle what is no longer there.

Into this family comes Hester's friend, Carlyle, visiting from out of town, looking to Hester to show her a way Hester herself has lost.

Clearly, this isn't a light play, but it is a strong study in people, and the four student actors deal with difficult roles very well, under Marianne Kubik's strong direction.

The cast was a little slow to fully inhabit the characters on opening night, but once they got moving, the play became powerful to watch.

While all of the young women have done well with their characters, Alyssa Lott, as Berkeley, is especially strong, with not an artificial moment.

Julia Debo is also very good as Hester.

In an after-show discussion, the playwright noted that in an earlier version of the play more of her individual trauma, her "back story" was shown, and he was right to have removed that, though replacing it with something might help the audience and actor better understand what brought this character to this moment in time

This isn't a play that resolves itself, though it does pinpoint a sea change in these characters' lives.

Technical work is also strong here, with very good and detailed scenic design by Alli Lidie and lighting by Cody Schindeldecker.

The play runs 90 minutes with no intermission, and is far from light entertainment. But it is compelling and thought provoking.

Two upcoming performances feature short after-show discussions with the cast, playwright and directors. It's worth staying for, especially since it's rare to have a playwright available for questions.

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