Theater Review: Marie and Bruce

NEW YORK—One gets to see the dissolution, devaluation, and destruction of a marriage in the revival of Wallace Shawn’s hard to watch but ultimately riveting Marie and Bruce, presented by the New Group at Theatre Row Studios.

Waking up next to Bruce (Frank Whaley), her still-snoring husband, Marie (Marisa Tomei) announces her intentions to end the marriage, something she has apparently threatened many times before. With a mouth that could make a truck driver blush, she lets loose with a tirade of demeaning insults, criticizing her now-awake spouse and everything he does.

At the same time, Bruce is no angel. He tries to accede to his spouse’s wishes yet ultimately ignores her requests when it involves changing his own plans.

In one case, he insists they go to a party Marie desperately wants to avoid. Once at said gathering, the relationship between the two changes with Bruce taking charge. He knows all the people there, slipping in and out conversations with ease, while Marie feels like the odd man out. It doesn’t help that when she does try to get involved in one of the discussions, she’s either shouted down or ignored.

It’s interesting to note that when other women are mentioned or introduced to Marie, she reasserts her claim on Bruce, despite her disgust of him.

The play is a fascinating look at a love-hate-need relationship, with a marriage suffering a painfully slow death via the thousands of verbal cuts Marie and Bruce inflict upon one another. Each is an emotional vampire and quite skilled in the art of patronizing. The difference is that Marie unleashes her displeasure when she and Bruce are alone, while Bruce (who can be a rather mean drunk) prefers calling attention to their problems in public.

One of the reasons the show keeps one’s interest is the surprisingly complex characters Marie and Bruce turn out to be. The continual switching each does from passive to aggressive allows the different facets and weaknesses of both personalities to come through.

None of the other characters in the play have any real depth to them (deliberately so), existing mainly for the title couple to play off of, and in that respect, they work quite well.

Tomei hits the mark as an angry but very vulnerable woman who wants nothing more than to be free of her marriage, but at the same time, is lost without the security it offers.

Whaley matches her verbal blow for blow, making Bruce on the surface a seemingly harmless good-natured dolt, but in reality, a self-absorbed, emotionally and sexually frustrated manipulator. He sees nothing wrong in his actions. He is also deeply in love with his wife, or at least heavily invested in the relationship and would be devastated were it to end.

Scott Elliott’s direction is very good, keeping the story moving through the early comic and subsequent emotionally painful scenes, without allowing anything to be revealed in terms of where the play is ultimately going.

Set by Derek McLane is wonderful, making nice use of a revolving stage during the party sequences. Use of lighting by Jason Lyons is fine, and the costumes by Jeff Mahshie work well.

Marie and Bruce presents a very interesting look at a marriage in crisis where no one has the courage to change. Except perhaps the audience, who may come away with an idea of just how important communication with one’s significant other truly is.

Also in the cast are Tina Benko, Russell G. Jones, Cindy Katz, Devin Ratray, Alok Tewari, Adam Trese, and Alison Wright.

Marie and Bruce
Theatre Row Studios
410 West 42nd Street
Tickets: 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com
Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Closes: May 7

Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication, The Stage.