Depressed, depraved and downbeat often serve as descriptors of Sylvia Plath’s poetry and life. However, in the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s production of “Edge,” a one-woman show starring Angelica Torn as Plath, Torn gives theater-goers another adjective to capture Plath’s tortured identity: darkly funny.
As Plath, Torn laughs at herself and her misfortunes, her inability to fully succeed in her first famous suicide attempt in 1953, and her tumultuous marriage to poet Ted Hughes, capturing an embittered, sarcastic and witty side to Plath not often seen in her poetry or her famous memoir “The Bell Jar.”
The hard and acerbic edge Torn lends to Plath’s character reveals cleverness and anger in one of poetry’s most enigmatic and intriguing figures.
It is arguably Sylvia Plath’s “sticking-her-head-in-the-oven” suicide that contributed most to her fame, but “Edge” focuses not on Plath’s suicidal tendencies or thoughts, but rather the relationships she develops throughout her life with her mother, father, brother, husband and psychologist.
Torn’s delivery of Plath’s memories is funny and sharp as she effortlessly weaves in stories of defining moments in Plath’s life and captures the voices of those other characters most important to Plath.
Torn demands the audience’s attention as she paces, struts and strides across the stage with only a baroque-style desk, bookshelf and chair as her props.
Dressed in a dull gray frock and a black sweater, Torn manages to transform herself from an 8-year-old Plath, seeking only her father’s approval, to the 20-year-old perky and ambitious Smith College student striving for perfection, to an exhausted mother, depressed and angry with an absent husband.
What perhaps is most impressive about the performance is Torn’s ability to use the minimalist set and costumes to full effect.
Torn pops open the top buttons of her blouse and lets her long hair go free and wild as she describes her passionate affairs with Hughes, but she keeps her sweater buttoned and her hair in a tight bun as she transforms into Plath’s father, a harsh disciplinarian.
Torn is even able to move in and out of sanity and insanity, capturing a full 20-minute counseling session between the emotionally distraught 20-year-old Plath, who just attempted suicide, and her rational, professional psychologist.
The production’s lighting also captures all of Plath’s emotions, with all of the stage and house lights on as Torn addresses the audience and bitterly reveals the harsh facts of her life and the lights dimmed with only a spotlight on Torn’s face as she remembers an interaction with her and her father.
While the production is introspective and focused, it moves quickly; every silence and every change in light engrosses and intrigues, giving further insight into the workings of Plath’s mind.
The premise of the production, however, feels contrived. With Plath speaking to the audience from beyond the grave, she can relate events that occurred after her death, creating a bizarrely supernatural element to the show.
The first half of the show feels like a voyeuristic observation of Plath’s last day of life, but by the second half, Plath reveals that she already died, letting the audience realize that this recreation of her life events is solely for the benefit of the audience, thereby eliminating the engrossing voyeuristic tone of the show.
This revelation that Plath is speaking from beyond the grave, in turn, leads the audience to wonder why Plath remains so bitter about her life events and why she is not more open with the audience about more of her feelings and insecurities.
Only in brief moments does Torn reveal softer edges to Plath’s personality. These glimpses prove refreshing, but they do not happen nearly enough, making Plath’s sarcasm and hardness more cloying as the play continues for its two-hour duration.
Both those unfamiliar with Plath’s life and enthusiasts alike can walk away from “Edge” feeling as if they learned something new. Those who have previously studied Plath will catch references to Plath’s poetry, as lines from “Daddy,” “Lady Lazarus,” and “Morning Song” are deftly integrated into the narrative.
Plath’s character may never be fully understood, but “Edge” gives audience members an interpretation they may not have seen elsewhere. Wholly engrossing, “Edge’s” flaws only complement a figure whose life, too, is defined by flaws.
““ Jenae Cohn
E-mail Cohn at jcohn@media.ucla.edu.