Maskers make drinking, dysfunction work

In Paul Zindel’s 1971 family drama, “And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little,” Anna Reardon, who teaches science, is off her rocker. She may also have molested one of her male students. Her sister Ceil is superintendent of schools and has strong recommendations – and official paperwork – for handling the situation conclusively. Another sister, Catherine, is assistant principal and she doesn’t drink a little. She drinks a lot. Nevertheless, she wants Anna to remain in her care and tells Ceil to back off. But it’s never that easy when it comes to sibling rivalry and twisted sisterness.

This is the setup when the lights go up on “Miss Reardon,” which sold out each night of last weekend’s opening performances by the Belfast Maskers. The show runs through Sept. 1 at the Downtown Waterfront Theater, which is richly furnished with the ghosts and guilt of the Reardon house of dysfunction.

Resentment, bitterness, cattiness and rancor are the emotional big guns brought out for this family battle between sisters whose early years were squashed by an overbearing mother. We’re clearly in Eugene O’Neill territory here and the result is a rather harrowing night of theater.

But leave it to director Aynne Ames to storm fearlessly into this neurotic fray with a production that is crisp, funny, distressing and tenacious. Ames, who founded the now-defunct Cold Comfort Theater in Castine, bends the dramatic arc of this show with such a tight and confident grip that we can’t help but strain along for the 90-minute, no-intermission intensity.

While not every line is given full measure by the three actors playing the Reardon sisters, Ames does, in general, squeeze supple performances from the community cast. The show does have merits, however, that outweigh the bumpiness.

For one thing, the roles offer real meat to actors. Catherine, of the title role, is cynical, eccentric and wry, qualities that Victoria Covill makes crackle onstage. She drinks all night but thankfully resists sloppiness. Tobin Malone is staunch and chilly as Ceil, whose success at work and at stealing her sister’s boyfriend to make him her husband is the cloud always hanging above the trio.

Diane Collier Wilson gives a true tour de force as Anna, whose illness is like an incisor biting away at the family. Wilson energetically and sensitively presents the disintegration of a woman whose patience for life has switched to pain. Her performance is bold and frightening and excellent.

Supporting cast members Kathleen Horan and Tony Sohns are neighbors with troubles of their own. They could be nastier, but Horan and Sohns make the guest list complete as the outsiders who shake it all up a little more.

Zindel, whose background is in education, is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.” “Miss Reardon,” while at times ambling, is every bit as tormented and transfixing. Ames has made a bold choice for summer theater but the payoff is a production that carries with it the potential to keep the conversation going long after the show has ended.

A final note: The Belfast Waterfront Theater has 75 seats and open seating. Reservations and early arrival at the theater are suggested.

The Belfast Maskers will present “And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little” at 7 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, through Sept. 1 at the Downtown Waterfront Theater at 43 Front St. in Belfast. For tickets, call 338-9668.