Theater Review: ‘Abundance’

“Abundance,” set against the backdrop of the American West starting in the late 1860s, details the emotional lives and experiences of the two women.
Theater Review: ‘Abundance’
Macon Hill (Kelly McAndrew) and Bess Johnson (Tracy Middendorf) bond over their shared fates as mail-order brides, in Beth Henley’s new play “Abundance.” Marielle Solan Photograph
Updated:

NEW YORK—Although Beth Henley’s play “Abundance” deals with four people, two women and two men, against the backdrop of the American West starting in the late 1860s, the play most tellingly details the emotional lives and experiences of the two women: Bess Johnson (Tracy Middendorf) and Macon Hill (Kelly McAndrew).

The women meet for the first time in Wyoming Territory as they await the arrival of their husbands-to-be. Bess, a shy, gentle soul, and Macon, a passionate, earthy type, are, courageously, mail-order brides and haven’t a clue as to what their prospective grooms will be like.

When Jack Flan (Todd Lawson) arrives for Bess, he informs her that her intended groom, Jack’s brother, had recently died. But, not to worry for he, Jack, will marry her. Unhappily for Bess, Jack seems a rather crude type, not at all like his deceased brother, who had written three poetic, tender letters to his intended.

(L—R) Bess Flan (Tracy Middendorf), Will Curtis (Ted Koch), Macon Curtis (Kelly McAndrew) and Jack Flan (Todd Lawson), are the mail-order brides with their mismatched husbands.<br/>(Marielle Solan Photograph)
(L—R) Bess Flan (Tracy Middendorf), Will Curtis (Ted Koch), Macon Curtis (Kelly McAndrew) and Jack Flan (Todd Lawson), are the mail-order brides with their mismatched husbands.
Marielle Solan Photograph
Diana Barth
Diana Barth
Author
Diana Barth writes for various theatrical publications and for New Millennium. She may be contacted at [email protected]