PROMISING PREMISE BUT NEEDS POLISHING

By Trisha Cusack ⭐⭐ | Press Invite

When a major scandal occurs, like that of Bernie Madoff and his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme which was exposed in 2008, what becomes of those left behind after the headlines die down? Roger Steinmann explores this in his latest one-woman(ish) play, Ruthless.

The show is an imagining of the life of Ruth Madoff, Bernie’s wife of over 60 years, since her husband’s downfall. Once living the high life, Ruth now lives a meagre existence, living in a sparsely decorated apartment with no one for company. With her husband in prison and both her sons having passed away in tragic circumstances, it seems that her only interactions now are with the pizza delivery boy.

The first act follows Ruth in her apartment as she displays how she is deeply impacted by this loneliness, to the point of losing the plot a little. Earnestly played by Emily Swain, we witness her go through an array of emotions – denial at her loss, anger at her husband, and sadness when she remembers her current circumstances. Swain captures the intense mood swings and Ruth’s complicated character well, reminiscent of a Norma Desmond or Blanche DuBois type character.

We don’t learn much about Ruth’s own backstory and motivations in the play, only those – often conflicting – titbits shared through her ramblings about her marriage to Bernie. As a result, it is difficult to properly understand Ruth or share her perspective. As it is only Ruth on stage for the majority of the show, there is minimal action, although the side plot of her crush on the pizza delivery boy provides some weak comedic relief. Perhaps it is to show how one resorts to clinging to desperate fantasies when we have nothing else?

As an audience member it was interesting to watch as, while we feel sympathy at times, the occasional gleams of a more ruthless Ruth (pun intended) swiftly reminds us that she may well have been aware, or even complicit, of her husband’s crimes. Without someone else in the show to counterbalance her accounts, though, it is tricky to discern what the truth really is. Is she lying to us or is she just lying to herself? Only God can tell.

Speaking of God, the play takes a rather religious turn during the second act. Following the death of Bernie in prison, Ruth spirals further. While praying to be reunited with her family in heaven, Ruth enters a dream like state where she is confronted by the voices of her two sons, presumably from heaven, and Bernie, most certainly in hell. Unfortunately, this felt rather disjointed from the rest of the play up to this point, causing the audience to question where the show was going and what the purpose of this sequence was. Is there a big revelation to come or some grand meaning behind it all? After the 90 minutes of run time, this was still unclear to me.

Throughout, there were other elements that too lacked polish. The offstage voices were a little rough around the edges, and certain plot points, such as Ruth shooting erratically down the hallway at unwanted visitors, felt quite jarring while also lacking a depth as a result of her lack of backstory built earlier on.

However, with such an interesting subject matter and Steinmann’s passion, with some further development, there is potential for this production to bring Ruth Madoff’s story back into the spotlight, hopefully for better reasons than in 2008.

Ruthless is running at the Arches Lane Theatre until 29 June.

WEBSITE

⭐⭐

Photo Credit: Roger Steinmann