33 Variations

Play (2007)
by Moisés Kaufman

Pianist: Catherine Stornetta

Katherine Brandt is a musicologist who is overcome by a desire to investigate the creation of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations; she goes to the Beethoven archive in Bonn, Germany to do so. Her situation is complicated by personal liabilities, but her ever-faithful daughter enables her to pursue her ambition nonetheless. The scene switches from the present day involvements of mother, daughter and other supporters of Katherine’s research to an historical treatment of Beethoven’s involvement with his publisher, Diabelli, and his personal aide, Schindler, during the last years of his life.

This incisively written and beautifully directed production serves both as an exciting and interesting investigation into the structure of a late Beethoven piano work and a poetic interleaving of a story about human relationships and artistic invention.

We see the contemporary quartet consisting of Katherine, her daughter, Clara, a male nurse, Mike, and an archivist at the Beethoven collections, Gertrude, navigating the complex terrain of their interrelationships against the historical landscape of Beethoven, his publisher, Diabelli, and his aide, Schindler, in their own complex dance of personalities. Katherine’s drive towards excellence in research echoes against the background of ordinariness in the same way that Beethoven’s sublime variations echo against the relatively simple tune on which they are based.

Riding through this investigation of Beethoven’s creation of this work is the question about what inspired him to take a simple tune and craft an amazing edifice of 33 variations upon it. Was it the challenge to turn a dross theme into something of gold? Was it simply to outdo Bach, whose famed Goldberg Variations run to only 32 in number? Or, as the narrative suggests, was there something more here than meets the eye?

Kaufman’s narrative is so well put together that it brilliantly exhibits, through its evolution, the significance of its aesthetic conclusion. It is a beautiful piece of writing, artfully weaving reflections on the elevations of fine art with those on the mundane aspects of life, towards a poignantly satisfying result.

Spiro Veloudos has characteristically constructed a wonderful show, involving great performances from all involved.

Will McGarrahan, who was very effective as an Orthodox Jewish scholar in The Chosen earlier this year at the Lyric, is a very good Diabelli.

Victor L. Shopov is exquisitely adept and agile as Schindler, persuasively exhibiting the grace and humor that contributed to the personal devotion that enabled Beethoven to do what he did.

Dakota Shepard, as Clara, Katherine’s daughter, and Kelby T. Akin, as Mike, the nurse, are great together, and beautifully convey the awkwardness of early relationship with the earnestness of developing possibilities. They are also both wonderful counterparts to Paula Plum’s Katherine, providing believable emotive dimension in a complex situation.

Maureen Keiller is great as Gertrude, the archivist, as she navigates between officousness and more extended forms of relationship. Her German accent, by the way, is superb.

James Andreassi is perfect as Beethoven. I saw him as a bit too bombastic Antony in a production of Antony and Cleopatra a couple of seasons ago, but here he is just great, bringing his broad passion into perfect harmony with the demands of the role.

And Paula Plum is stupendous as the musicologist, Katherine, traveling the intellectual, emotional and physical distances the role requires with amazing effectiveness.

Catherine Stornetta plays the piano, with all the detailed modifications and requirements of the script, with great effectiveness and aplomb.

Recent shows about music and musicians: Three Pianos at the ART, Hershey Felder’s depictions of Bernstein and Gershwin, and The Pianist of Willesden Lane, all at ArtsEmerson, have given wonderful dramatic insights into creation and invention. This play, and production, falls into that lovely recent collection of interesting ventures and does it with particular artfulness and grace.

– BADMan