George Street Playhouse, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, adds another pearl to its string of world premiere works with Chris Bohjalian’s “Midwives.” Adapted from his 1997 novel of the same name, this play gives us an entire world in two acts and we receive a true perspective in the round, as the set makes a gentle rotation on its axis for everyone in the house to get every angle on the story.
It is a wild and stormy night when the Bedfords’ baby decides it’s time to enter the world. Midwife Sibyl Danforth (Ellen McLaughlin) and her apprentice Anne Austin (Grace Experience) are working very hard to make sure Charlotte (Monique Robinson) delivers her second child as easily as she did her first. Charlotte is determined to deliver at home, but another mother, Mother Nature, stirs the pot. Charlotte’s husband Asa (Ryan George) is a young Black minister, whose work called him and his family to Vermont, and this foursome is engaged in a pitched battle for mother and baby alike.
Most of the classic conflicts in drama are represented–human against Nature, as Charlotte works with all her waning might to give the greatest gift to her nascent newborn; human against the Supernatural as the storm outside waxes into a character of its own, hurling frozen water against the windows and howling like a wounded animal; and human against human, as a battle happens to place blame for a very human tragedy, which causes repercussions in everyone involved. Oh, and the Bedfords’ home is miles from the nearest hospital. When complications arise, an event of a moment can echo throughout a lifetime.
The tale is told by Sibyl’s daughter Connie (Molly Carden) who morphs from her mature self, a doctor in residence for OB/GYN, to her 16 year old self–old enough to hear what her parents, Sibyl and Rand (John Bolger) are saying, and to feel the depth of their emotions. The frictive conflict of Connie with Anne, from the moment of their first meeting, feels like a sign. Or is it just classic teen angst … you’ll need to see for yourself.
The first act is thrumming with tension, like a plucked string, initially, tuned then turned ever tighter, to near the breaking point. You’ll buy a seat, but you’ll only need the edge. And when the first act is through and the lights come up, only then will you realize that you hardly dared to breathe.
The Bedfords are very different from the other, more melanin-challenged, families in this small town. Even Asa’s congregation is not welcoming. Connie babysits for the Bedfords’ elder child, and it’s a classic love story of toddler and sitter. Everyone in both families is looking forward to the new arrival. That’s one part of Bohjalian’s genius, these characters whom we feel that we know. Genius of a different stripe is seen in the second act. Each of the attorneys, DA Bill Tanner (Armand Schultz), who is prosecuting Sibyl for manslaughter and is ready to pursue to the full extent, and Sibyl’s attorney Stephen Hastings (Lee Sellars), who is ready to defend her are adversaries who respect one another, although each feels he is in the right. Michael Cullen does double duty as Judge Dorset and Dr. Terry Tierney, as the trial plays out, not just with Sibyl, but also in another classic conflict–traditional medicine versus scientific medicine. Sibyl’s name means “oracle” or “someone who can see the future,” yet it is Sibyl’s daughter Connie, Constance, who lives up to her name.
This cast is as tight as true neighbors, true family. There is visible affection among the members of the Bedford and Danforth families, a warmth and a depth that make the tragedy, which we all know is coming, that much more deeply felt. George’s Asa, as he’s holding his newborn in the second act, feels the weight of what was and what will be. Each of the characters, and these brilliant actors, lives through their own personal Gethsemane for every performance. There are eight performances a week and it is new for each audience. You owe it to yourself to witness this brilliant look at truly what it means to love, in this time when some would build silos of hatred.
This play ends its run on February 16. Visit www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org today for a show that you will always remember!