'The Verge' Off-Broadway review — forgotten feminist play takes root on stage once more

Read our review of The Verge off Broadway, a revival of Susan Glaspell's 1921 play presented by The Public Theater, Fiasco Theater, and Expand the Canon.

Summary

• The Verge follows an experimental botanist fighting against her more conventional loved ones to forge her own path
• Susan Glaspell's 1921 feminist play is ahead of its time and rich with ideas, but it can be dense and difficult to follow on stage
• Tony Award winner Miriam Silverman delivers an angry, passionate, and playful lead performance as botanist Claire
• The show is recommended for those interested in feminist history and drama

Today's audiences are unlikely to have heard of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell, but we all probably should have learned about her in school. She had a remarkable life and career, and her work offers a vital perspective from a period in which men wrote most of the dramas we study and stage. It’s noble of The Public Theater, Fiasco Theater, and Expand the Canon to stage a production of The Verge, Glaspell’s 1921 play about a botanist, Claire Archer (Miriam Silverman), who spends her days in a greenhouse trying to create new plants but is constantly hounded and hemmed in by her husband, family, friends, lovers, and a meddling doctor. The work is a feminist manifesto, but it is also an intensely philosophical screed with endless monologues whose logic is hard to follow, and which is often exhausting to sit through. The play, and Glaspell more broadly, should be recovered from the forgotten corners of history, but her work seems more fit to be studied in classrooms than produced on major stages.

To be fair, expressionist dramas of the 1920s are, generally speaking, difficult. Many have nonetheless been revived off Broadway this year alone: The Hairy Ape (currently on at Irish Rep), The Adding Machine (with The New Group in the spring), and the more popular Machinal (with New York Theatre Company over the summer). The Verge, though, is particularly hard to digest, with heightened and didactic language, lightly sketched characters, and minimal plot that make it hard to get invested. The text itself is rich, but it's also dense and difficult to appreciate as an audience member since it takes effort merely to follow along. Perhaps some trimming, or an adaptation, could make it more accessible.

Silverman gives a strong central performance — angry, passionate, and playful — but the slow-paced direction by Jessie Austrian doesn't streamline the show, and some of the supporting players, especially Emily Young (as Claire’s sister) and Paco Tolson (as Claire’s best friend) fall flat. Lawrence E. Moten III's sets and Sarita P. Fellows's period costumes are delightful, though they can only do so much to alleviate the onerousness of the piece. The Verge explores a host of important themes — motherhood, mental health, eugenics, religion, art, and the aftermath of World War I — that offer a great deal to study and analyze, but this production does not make a case for it being performed.

The Verge summary

Set in 1921, The Verge centers Claire Archer, an experimental botanist who works to create new plants; her most recent is called The Breath of Life. But she is surrounded by a group of people who, to various degrees, stifle her. There’s the classic Tom, Dick, and Harry — i.e. her husband, lover, and best friend — alongside a psychologist, Claire’s stuffy sister, and her conventional daughter. Claire fights against them all in this biting feminist play, attempting to forge her own path.

What to expect at The Verge

Upon entering the LuEsther Hall at The Public Theater, you are transported to an antique greenhouse with white ironwork flourishes and wooden tables featuring an array of plants. The sets, by Lawrence E. Moten III, are complimented by Bailey Trierweiler’s pre-show sound design, composed mostly of classical piano music and ending with “Rhapsody in Blue,” George Gershwin’s iconoclastic jazz symphony. This choice foreshadows the changes to come and the disruptive presence of our heroine Claire — and, in a broader sense, of playwright Susan Glaspell.

Glaspell, mostly forgotten to history, is something of a feminist icon: editor of her college newspaper; the first professional female journalist to cover court proceedings; a member of several literary societies; prolific author of short stories, novels, and plays; and winner of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Alison's House.

The Verge runs 2 hours with one intermission and features a few gunshots.

What audiences are saying about The Verge

While some early theatregoers appreciate The Verge's unique feminist perspective, especially from a play written in the 1920s, many have called it convoluted on various online forums. As of writing, it has a 49% audience approval rating on Show-Score, a review aggregator.

• “This show is an older play that is overly heady. Instead of feeling relevant, it feels inaccessible and stilted. The actors are working too hard and the direction is underdeveloped.” - Show-Score user Jen6306
• “Blending comedy, provocation, & feminist insight in equal measure, the play would nonetheless benefit from some trimming.” - Show-Score user Elisa9119
• “Ideas are ahead of its time and the acting is good. But ultimately the show was didactic.” - Show-Score user dianefe

Read more audience reviews of The Verge on Show-Score.

Who should see The Verge

• Anyone interested in learning more about feminist perspectives from the 1920s will get a great glimpse of a crucial moment in women’s history.
• Fans of Tony Award-winning actress Miriam Silverman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) will enjoy getting to see her take on a major leading role.
• Anyone angry at the patriarchy will find the play’s passionate critique cathartic.

Learn more about The Verge off Broadway

Susan Glaspell’s 1921 play is a fascinating feminist text that offers fresh insights on the experience of patriarchal oppression, but The Verge is perhaps too cerebral for some audience members to fully enjoy it in performance. Even though this production does not make for a necessarily entertaining watch, it will hopefully encourage more people to study Glaspell’s work.

Learn more and get The Verge tickets on New York Theatre Guide. The Verge is at The Public Theater through November 22.

Photo credit: The Verge off Broadway. (Photo by Valerie Terranova)