There’s an interesting conundrum at the heart of Donald Margulies’ “Collected Stories,” which opened last night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway. The play revolves around two writers, the established Ruth (Linda Lavin) and the up-and-coming Lisa (Sarah Paulson). Ruth takes Lisa under her wing, and the reasons are unclear. The most obvious option is that Ruth sees real promise in Lisa. Problem is, Margulies does give us examples of her prose, and it’s pure MFA-spawned blahness. Check out this representative excerpt from what Lisa reads at the 92nd St. Y:
“I had gotten to the bottom of the third page and realized that I had absorbed not one word for some time. It was then that the timeless scent of garlic shocked my smelling sense and swept me, instantly, nine miles south and four decades back, to a crumbling quaint railroad flat on Mulberry Street. (…) New York had beckoned, like a lover with smoky breath and bloodshot eyes; I swooned and flew into his vampire arms with abandon, and left the stultifying beige safety of my parents’ house forever.”
Ghastly!
But is it meant to be bad, or is it meant to be good and Margulies just can’t pull it off? I don’t know. Because if Lisa’s writing is meant to be good, this doesn’t bode well for Ruth’s critical acumen. If it’s meant to be bad, the implication is that Ruth takes on Lisa for reasons other than her writing — ie, there may be some kind of attraction. I’m not saying this angle should be explored, just that it’s a possible one. I thought Margulies was going there when the two women discussed Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Farrow, but that was a red herring.
The issue of representing art on stage or in film is tricky. Very often, a play or movie mentions someone creating works of genius, and prudently refrains from actually showing them. It’s daring of Margulies to actually let us hear Lisa’s written voice, but that introduces an ambiguity he isn’t ready — or able — to deal with.