Untying Boulevard Theatre’s ‘Gidion’s Knot’

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A provocative contemporary drama finds an intimate home as Boulevard Theatre stages a production of Gidion’s Knot. Two-person tension slinks around a tiny set far smaller than the classroom it is meant to present. Nicole Gorski is tenderly compassionate and vulnerable in the role of a schoolteacher named Heather. The parent of a student shows up to a scheduled meeting with her quite unexpectedly. The student in question had committed suicide prior to the meeting.

We come to know the mother as Corynne. Lisa Schnell had to back out of the role rather late and a couple of other actresses are stepping in at the last minute. Opening weekend, Corynne was played by Beth Monhollen. Corynne enters the meeting aggressively searching for answers from a woman she blames for her son’s suicide. Her dialogue is animated by a witheringly caustic and corrosive kind of intellectualism. In the wrong hands, this role could make Heather look like a victim. Monhollen’s performance opening weekend tempered the aggression and anger with a sense of genuine empathy. Brooke Wegner plays the role in the production’s second and final weekend.

Complexity slowly reveals itself in the interaction between parent and teacher. With Gorski and company, director Patricia Durante has found the right balance between aggression and compassion in the two characters. They respect each other without exactly liking each other. By the end of the play, they’re both trying to figure out what happened. The production does such a good job delivering the mystery that the audience is doing the same thing right along with the characters.

Boulevard Theatre’s production of Gidion’s Knot runs through Oct. 12 at the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, 839 S. Fifth St. For tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com/event/864687.