Penny in the Middle

Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig finds humor in family dysfunction.

By: Susan Van Dongen
   Since biblical times and before, stories of siblings have shed light on the comedy, tragedy, sentiments and even the horrors of family life. Relationships between sisters have provided especially complex material — from Little Women to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? to Sex, Lies and Videotape.
   With The Sisters Rosensweig, playwright Wendy Wasserstein brings three sisters together for a birthday party to give an updated spin on the trusty "Jewish family comedy." Between the laughs, however, Ms. Wasserstein reveals some tough truths about women’s roles in contemporary society. As in The Heidi Chronicles, which won the Pulitzer prize as well as a Tony Award in 1989, the tightly drawn action in The Sisters Rosensweig addresses the problems modern women have in reconciling female independence with intimacy and maternity.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

Barbara Walsh, left, as Pfeni, rehearses with Susan Clark as Sara in the George Street Playhouse production of The Sisters Rosensweig.

   Artistic Director David Saint brings this hit Broadway comedy to the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. The Sisters Rosensweig, directed by Mr. Saint, runs through March 10.
   Actress Barbara Walsh plays Pfeni, the youngest of the three sisters, and says the universal element of dysfunctional kinfolk resonates strongly for her.
   As one of eight children growing up near Washington, D.C., she says she was almost drowned out by her boisterous family. Finding her voice amid the cacophony was probably more challenging than anything the Rosensweigs encountered. Like many young people who struggled to get "five minutes at the dinner table," Ms. Walsh found the theater to be the perfect forum for self-expression.
   "I was one of the more quiet members of my family," she says, speaking by telephone from her temporary quarters in New York City. "None of my brothers and sisters are in the business, but they all were — and still are — entertainers of a sort. There would always be some kind of joking around the dinner table, and my mother would sit there, probably wishing we could settle down and discuss things that had a little more substance."
   Family dynamics provide fertile ground for pop psychology as well as theater and literature. Books on birth order tell us that the oldest siblings are typically the most conservative. The youngest often cling to the role of "the baby" or household clown. Meanwhile, middle children — which is where Ms. Walsh landed in real life — struggle to find their identity between these two extremes.
   The fifth of eight children, Ms. Walsh says she is "about as close to the middle as you can get, and I played the peacemaker." However, she has also been able to get into Pfeni’s head and makes her youngest-sibling character rich, funny and very real.
   Born Penny but renamed Pfeni by her bisexual boyfriend, Geoffrey, Ms. Walsh’s character is the free-spirited travel-writer foil to eldest sister Sara (Susan Clark), the most successful and grounded of the Rosensweigs.
   "She (jumped on) the name Pfeni because she wanted to be different and special," Ms. Walsh says. "Because they both travel, Pfeni and Geoffrey have this on-again, off-again kind of arm’s-length relationship. There’s a lot of kidding around and fun, but little depth or intimacy."
   They’ve never settled down or discussed their future, and Pfeni, who is close to 40 and thinking about having children, has some decisions to make. As it turns out, while the door to her capricious love relationship closes, another door opens — for Sara.
   An international banker who has just undergone a hysterectomy, Sara has invited her sisters and friends to her sumptuous London home to celebrate her 54th birthday. She’s not exactly looking forward to it.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

While many plays will either be straight dramas or full-blown farces, Ms. Wasserstein’s work plays off these opposite emotions. "That’s the way real life is," Ms. Walsh says.

   Also en route from the United States is middle sister Gorgeous Teitelbaum (June Gable), who has grown up to be the perfect mother and suburban spouse. The hilariously named Gorgeous has also become the heroine of a call-in radio show and is about to make the jump to television.
   The personalities bounce off one another spontaneously, thanks to Ms. Wasserstein’s wit and skill.
   "I think this is her best play," Ms. Walsh says.
   She also has high praise for Mr. Saint. "I just applaud him for the way he works. He puts everyone at ease and the characters are allowed to develop naturally."
   Although Ms. Walsh had previously auditioned for Mr. Saint, this is her first production with the George Street Playhouse. She was pleased when the director invited her to play the role of Pfeni, without an audition.
   "He thought enough of my work to remember me," she says.
   Ms. Walsh won a Tony nomination, a Drama Desk nomination and a Los Angeles Ovation Award for the role of Trina in Falsettos. Other Broadway appearances include Blood Brothers, Big and Nine. A talented vocalist as well as dramatic actor, she played Joan Baez and Grace Slick in Rock ‘n’ Roll: the First 5,000 Years. She has worked with some of the country’s top theater directors, including Tommy Tune, Arthur Laurents and Des McAnuff.
   Ms. Walsh has also appeared in film and television, most notably on Law and Order, a series that seems to provide a lot of work for stage actors when they’re not with a regular theatrical show.
   "I love to watch ‘Law and Order’ because I always see my friends," she says with a laugh.
   One of Ms. Walsh’s favorite roles was Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by her husband, Tom Cullen III, at Gretna Playhouse in Mt. Gretna, Pa. Perhaps because she is musically inclined, Ms. Walsh loves the rhythms in Tennessee Williams’ writing, especially the words he crafted for Blanche DuBois.
   "The language is just so rich and musical," she says.
   What’s great about The Sisters Rosensweig is the way the combustion from the forced family interaction folds in easily with the laughter. While many plays will either be straight dramas or full-blown farces, Ms. Wasserstein’s work plays off these opposite emotions. In a single line, the audience can laugh, think or even do both.
   "That’s the way real life is," Ms. Walsh says. "You never really lose certain elements of the way you were as a child, even though you go out in the (adult) world and work. Other parts of your personality do grow and develop. But when you’re brought back into the family environment you tend to (regress) into the role you played as a child. There’s bound to be some friction."
The Sisters Rosensweig plays at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, through March
10. Performances: Tues.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 2, 7 p.m.; Feb. 21, 2 p.m.; Feb. 16, March 2, 9, 2 p.m. Tickets cost
$26-$45. For information, call (732) 246-7717. On the Web: www.georgestplayhouse.org