‘The Mother of the Maid’ runs through Dec. 23 at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., publictheater.org
What to make of “Mother of the Maid” at the Public Theater: A star vehicle for Glenn Close? An old-fashioned medieval melodrama? Documentary? Comedy with curse words?
Jane Anderson’s (“Olive Kitteridge,” “The Baby Dance") new play, which was produced by Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires in 2015, exhibits characteristics of multiple genres but still makes for a relatively unremarkable drama with a showcase role for Close.
The actress, who returned to Broadway last year for an encore run as the lunatic diva Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard," has not done an Off-Broadway show in more than 30 years.
“Mother of the Maid” closely follows a Broadway revival of Bernard Shaw’s analytical and long-winded 1923 tragedy, “Saint Joan,” which takes a contrarian, decidedly unromantic look at Joan.
Close plays Isabelle Arc, a resilient peasant woman and mother of Joan of Arc, who is initially skeptical when her daughter (Grace Van Patten, restless) interrupts their daily session of cleaning wool to reveal that she has been visited by Saint Catherine. Nevertheless Isabelle goes on to support her Joan — and watch from the sidelines — as her daughter takes an active role in the French army and at the court of King Charles.
Isabelle discusses Joan’s changing state of fortune with her husband, Jacques (Dermot Crowley, gruff), son, Pierre (Andrew Hovelson, apathetic and self-concerned), the local priest (Daniel Pearce, pleasant but spineless) and a “Lady of the Court” (Kate Jennings Grant, well-meaning but out-of-touch), who kindly arranges for Isabelle to get a glass of mead and a foot bath after she journeys 300 miles through mud and rain to visit Joan.
Anderson sticks to the traditional Joan of Arc story while attempting to imbue it with some originality, but the end result is rather underwhelming. Were it not for Close, I highly doubt the characteristically adventurous Public Theater (which is concurrently presenting the acclaimed Bob Dylan-Conor McPherson work, “Girl from the North Country”) would have produced the play.
Under the direction of Matthew Penn (best known for TV work, including "Law & Order"), Close delivers the kind of dynamic performance you would expect from a star: grim and glowing, gentle and forceful, with close attention paid to the character’s emotional journey. In the intimate three-quarter space of the Public’s Anspacher space, Close often makes “Mother of the Maid” feel like more than the sum of its parts.
