Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)
TheaterWorks
Hartford
Oct. 18, 2024
Fever Dreams tells the story of Zach and Adele, two lovers who have absconded away to a cabin in the woods for a weekend of passionate sex and food. Eventually Adele’s husband, and Zach’s former best friend, Miller shows up, and a series of revelations rock Zach’s world as he learns the truth about the affair he’s been involved in for almost 30 years.
Doug Savant and Lana Young do great work as lovers Zach and Adele, but are sometimes burdened by the dialogue they have to recite. Adele is some kind of scientist, and she often explains the world through extended scientific metaphors that make her seem more pretentious than smart or interesting. The same happens to Zach when both characters start spouting off about his Zacharisms, long rants to make a point that could have been made in less than a sentence. Savant and Young are game to take on these mini-soliloquies, but they obscure the characters behind big words more than they reveal motivation or intent.
The play doesn’t truly start until Miller shows up. I’ve seen Tim DeKay in many roles, but in my mind he’s always been Bizarro Jerry. Not after seeing Fever Dreams though. DeKay dominates every scene that he’s in as Miller, revealing layers of humor and grief to the self-described “monumental asshole.” What makes Miller work as a character is that, at bottom, he’s a profoundly decent man, willing to accommodate both his wife and his former best friend as they wind their way through the true nature of their relationship. DeKay plays into the oafish buffoonery of Miller when appropriate, but drops that facade to reveal the humanity of Miller in a way that transforms him from a potential antagonist to the most kind person on set.
While the dialogue choices of Adele and Zach may just be nitpicking, the one actual issue of the play is its tendency to cut away from the action right when it reaches its peak. This happens at three critical moments in the play that I don’t want to spoil. The first time it happens is a moment between Zach and Miller right before intermission that, while not crucial to the plot overall, would have been an interesting scene to see extended to see how the two characters handle it. The third time comes at the very end of the play, and extends the performance for two minutes longer than it should have gone on, sacrificing what could have been a very poignant ending.
The second time that it happens stands out. Zach is coming to terms with the most emotionally wrecking revelation of the play, and blurts out something truly heartbreaking. The moment I wanted to see was what happened next. How would Adele respond to such a crushing realization? She’s placed in an impossible situation, and I wanted to know how she would handle it. Instead, the scene immediately cuts to black, and we move forward to the next morning.
The impossible moments inside of a performance are where the true drama lies. It felt like we were denied access to the true heart of the play, where all three characters would have had to face the impossible reconciliation of Adele’s choices and Zach’s feelings. Playwright Jeffrey Leiber does a great job of setting up the emotional chips, but for some reason won’t let us see them fall, instead fast-forwarding us to the aftermath.
All in all though, I enjoyed Fever Dreams and came away with a newfound respect for Tim DeKay’s talents as an actor. It’s a promising start to the season, and I’m already excited for the next play at Theaterworks.
NEXT
Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction) continues at Theaterworks through Nov. 3.
Jamil heads to Trinity for a performance about one of his heroes, James Baldwin.
