The Studio Theatre is ringing in 2012 with a production that, come December, will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the finest plays of the year: David Margulies’ “Time Stands Still.” Margulies creates the story of a photojournalist, Sarah (Holly Twyford), and a reporter, James (Greg McFadden), who have experienced their eight-year-long relationship mainly in war zones. He analyzes their personal needs against the backdrop of war without sounding political or preachy.
When the play begins, Sarah is returning from a German hospital to her home in Brooklyn, New York. She is recovering from wounds she received from an exploding Iraqi roadside bomb. One leg is in a cast, as is an arm; she uses a crutch; the right side of her face is covered with bloody scars.
| Onstage |
| ‘Time Stands Still’ |
| Where: The Studio Theatre, 1501 Fourteenth St. NW |
| When: Through February 12 |
| Info: $35 to $60; 202-332-3300; studiotheatre.org |
James is the perfect helpful boyfriend, but Sarah doesn’t want his help. She wants life to continue as it was before the accident. Twyford is brilliant as the fiercely independent Sarah, a woman who seems hypnotized by her calling. As Sarah says about her ability to document the truth: if she didn’t do it, “who would know … who would care?”
Twyford’s performance is particularly compelling because it also reveals a more vulnerable, sensitive side of Sarah. In a scene where Margulies investigates the moral stance a photographer should have on capturing images of children dying, for instance, instead of actively trying to help those children, Twyford stunningly displays her ambivalence about her beloved career.
McFadden is excellent as Sarah’s boyfriend, a movie enthusiast who delights in horror films more than in horror on the battlefield. He gives a compelling performance of a man who is less drawn by his career than by his desire for a “normal” life.
The drama in Sarah’s and James’ lives is played out against an evolving drama in the existence of another couple. Dan Illian plays Richard, Sarah’s editor; Laura Harris plays his much younger girlfriend, Mandy. Mandy’s utter innocence and naivete at first make the couple seem to be a cliche.
But throughout the play the relationship between them becomes more serious and valid. Illian brings warmth to the role of the older man who has at last found honest emotion and Harris neatly balances the awkwardness of her first appearance with a certain strength gathered after she and Richard marry and have a child.
Director Susan Fenichell is sensitive to Margulies’ mix of humor and seriousness, nicely underlining his subtlety and social consciousness.
Set designer John McDermott has created a perfect apartment for Sarah, complete with grimy skylights, just the sort of place she might credibly stop into, grab another camera, fill it with film and head out to a war zone again.
