You May Ask Yourself

A Body of Water probes assumptions about memory and perception.

by Mark Cofta

Of course, the theater critic's code demands we never divulge surprises or twists, but even discussing events and plot points would warp the pleasures and puzzles of Lee Blessing's A Body of Water.

This much I can say: In Act II Playhouse's provocative production, a man (Buck Schirner) and a woman (Cynthia Raff) wake up together and don't know each other. They also don't know themselves, or their beautiful home (elegantly realized by scenic designer Adam Riggar), or the body of water surrounding it.

Blessing punctuates the early moments with humor — like when the couple coyly inspect each other's naked bodies, hoping for a burst of recognition — but the tension builds: Who are we, and why are we here?

The arrival of a third character (Emma O'Donnell) seems to provide answers, but only raises more questions, and that's the way Blessing wants it.

Director Gene Roland Frank's production feels true to the play, not forcing an interpretation that might compromise the playwright's ambitions with the false comfort of certainty. Schirner and Raff play moment-by-moment, responding believably to their intriguingly unbelievable situation. O'Donnell, however, seethes with bottled-up inner life — but since we can't believe what she tells the couple, we're never sure of her relationship to them, or her story, or what emotions seem about to burst forth.

A Body of Water probes assumptions about memory and perception. Could reality just be mutually agreed-upon pretending? Is memory automatic and reliable, or a house of cards built by unconscious choices?

I was disappointed, but not surprised, to overhear people groping for concrete conclusions afterward. Some insisted, for example, that Blessing merely offers an allegory for the anguish of Alzheimer's. To demand an easy answer is to miss the point entirely. Or is my perception merely a result of my unconsciously biased assumptions, as unreliable as everyone else's interpretations? Does the theater critic's code allow for self-doubt?

A Body of Water

Through Feb. 17, Act II Playhouse, 56 E.Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-654-0200, act2.org.