Old Times

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

If someone stole your underwear, would you consider this person to be a best friend? And can someone be a best friend if that person is the only friend?

Intriguing questions. The type of questions playwright, Harold Pinter loves to dangle in front of his audiences. Known as a haunting masterpiece, Old Times plays through this weekend. Under the astute direction of Suzanne Fayette for Paragon Theatre, Old Times lives up to its haunting masterpiece classification.

Kevin Hart and Emily Paton Davies in Paragon’s Old Times. Photo credit: E. Tyler Photography.

Featuring Carolyn Valentine, Kevin Hart, and Emily Patton Davies, the play takes place in an old converted farmhouse. David Lafont’s scenic design feeds into the elusiveness of the excruciating story. Is it real? Does Anna (Davies) really visit her once-upon-a-time-friend? Or does the action take place in the minds of Kate (Valentine) or Deeley (Hart) for that matter? An air of mystery surrounds the production as does the willowy gauge hangings from the stage rafters.

Old Times centers on a relatively simple plot. 20 years ago Kate and Anna roomed together, and now Anna is coming for a visit. Kate doesn’t remember much about her, but still calls her a best friend. Deeley is surprised to hear about Anna. He never met her, and his wife never mentioned her. The one thing she remembers is that Anna sometimes stole her underwear. Withdrawing into herself, Kate becomes silently uptight. It is almost as though if she breathes too hard, too suddenly, she will shatter as a broken light bulb falling onto cement.

An ethereal quality is given the play with Anna standing in their midst gazing out the window. Her back to Kate and Deeley.

A long ago friend is coming to visit. Why should this stump Deeley? Why should this throw Kate into a statue freeze? When Anna arrives (enters into the conversation) she bubbles with enthusiasm over the time the two shared an apartment, and all the fun times they had. Kate doesn’t speak, won’t speak, can’t speak? What’s going through her head?

Besides the apparent flippant dialogue, something else is going on, and this is where this outstanding cast builds eyes-glued-to-the-stage intrigue. Davies just doesn’t play at introducing Anna to the audience, she lives Anna, and Anna’s soul glimmers from her eyes. Davies eyes are a sun catcher. She always knows exactly when and how to use them. With Anna, as they dance, they also sharply pierce, complimenting Kate’s unusual withdrawal. Is Anna going to reveal something Kate has long forgotten and doesn’t want to remember? Will Anna reveal something she doesn’t want Deeley to know? Does Kate really not remember much about Anna? Or does she want to pretend she doesn’t in order to forget.

A three-ring circus ensues. Anna is not there just for a visit. Does Anna really want to come between Kate and Deeley? Or does Anna want to control Kate?  Is this a homosexual attraction from Anna to Kate or something else?  An ethereal dual begins to take place between Anna and Deeley for Kate’s affection and loyalty. A game of wits. A planted one-ups-man-ship. And the eyes, you want to watch the eyes on all three.

Paragon Theatre's Old Times.

Does Anna remember the way it really was, or is she making things up to get her claws into Kate? Strange stories follow. All of sudden Deeley remembers having met Anna, and dated her, which she denies. Is all of this a haunting memory in Kate’s mind? Did she kill Anna? And then kill Deeley, and does she now comfort herself with the thought that both struggle for her affection?

Or, are Kate and Anna one and the same person (perhaps why Anna is present from the very beginning). Both fell in love with Deeley, and Kate killed Anna for Deeley’s sake? After 20 years, something happens to Kate, and she tells Deeley Anna is returning. Deeley understanding Kate’s mental state does everything in his power to keep Anna at bay.

The performances from Davies, Hart, and Valentine are incredibly hinged, significantly well defined and brilliant.  Leaving interpretation up to the audience. Pinter’s manipulation deliberately raises unanswered questions. Through the actors’ artistic ability, Anna, Kate, and Deeley become concrete three-dimensional personalities as real as the audience sitting in their seats, but are they? Does the mind play tricks after a murder, even after 20 years? Or does a dual personality stand to be shoved into the background for so long and then demand to be brought back to the surface? In the hands of less expertised artists, Old Times could easily be mangled with confusing folderol taking one stance or another. Fayette understands Pinter, and Davies, Valentine, and Hart contain the wherewithal to demonstrate both sides of the coin at the same time, allowing both clarity.

Jacob Welch’s lighting design follows the reality into unreality and back again.

Brynn Starr-Coplan’s costume design points directly to the inside questions of Kate and Anna. Anna is class, smart, stylish saying “I want to be alive. I want to be noticed. I no longer want to live in the shadows. I am here for real.” Kate’s air of nicety says she pondered at great length what to wear for this occasion. Anna is coming one way or the other. It’s been 20 years. I want to impress. I want control, but I want comfort.” Deeley can just be himself, casual, and casual he is.

The vivid intelligent way Favette staged Old Times, begs the imagination to wonder, ponder, consider, and reconsider what is actually happening between Kate, Deeley, and Anna, all the while never missing a trick, a line, a piercing look, a laughing glance, or Anna’s inside thought of “I did it once. I can do it again.”

Would that this production could be extended. After every Paragon production I say that. Old Times is not only a Pinter masterpiece, but also a Paragon magnum opus. If at all possible, don’t miss it, or just simply beg for an extension. This psychological thriller teases the imagination feeding the mind to do what it does best: think.

Old Times
By Harold Pinter; Directed by Suzanne Favette