The Art of Burning (Hartford Stage)

 Just two days after attending a Yale Rep's production of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, I saw with Mike Hartford Stage's production of Kate Snodgrass's The Art of Burning. We were very happy with the well-paced, well-acted production of this strong adaptation of Euripedes's Medea. The play retrieves Medea from the tedium of being a piece worker in the LA barrios to being an artist who seems to have given up the paintbrush for a wedding ring and motherhood. When the play opens, the protagonist (Patricia) has already been abandoned by Jason for another woman, a lawyer at the same firm as his. Patricia and Jason's child is a teen-aged daughter. To conclude their divorce, they need only to agree about the daughter's living arrangements. What would be the terms of the shared custody? Into this mix comes news that the other woman is pregnant and Jason is pressuring her to have the baby, assuring her that he'll be better this time. At this point things get a bit muddled. In an excruciating scene, Patricia gets Jason and their divorce mediator to believe that she's killed the daughter. She hasn't, but her point is made: they are willing to think the worst of her, a propensity that carries into other aspects of their relationship. She's also making the point that the daughter needs to be "saved." Misogyny? Women's "natural" roles as mothers and nurturers? The play ends with a coda: Patricia has an art showing, Jason and his new wife have a baby, and the daughter is excited about being a sister. All are happy and reconciled. Hmmm. Perhaps this is the play's version of Euripede's deus ex machina at the end. Whatever it is, it is unearned and unsatisfying.

Nevertheless, worth seeing.