The Strand Theater Company is a relatively new company, only in its third season of production. It is easy to find, located at 1823 N. Charles Street: a simple bus ride to Penn Station and a short walk from there.
On Feb. 4th, the Strand debuted its much anticipated show, The Year of Magical Thinking. The Strand is undoubtedly a women’s theater company and the show is very indicative of the types of shows the Strand promotes.
The theater company describes itself as being “Dedicated to providing opportunities for women artists, writers, designers and directors.”
The Year of Magical Thinking does not disappoint in this respect. It is a show written by a woman and performed by a woman, and it appeals mostly to women.
The themes of the show, however, are universal.
Joan Didion met John Gregory Dunne, a funny and intelligent graduate of Princeton University, in the 1950s.
Didion was immediately drawn to Dunne’s knowledge of subjects such as history and politics in which she had never before taken much interest.
The two grew closer and by 1963, Didion was travelling to Connecticut to visit Dunne’s large family. Didion and Dunne married in 1964. Dunne became Didion’s partner in life and in writing for the next thirty-nine years.
The death of this man, with whom she shared so much, led her to write the book upon which this play is based, also titled The Year of Magical Thinking.
The marriage of Dunne and Didion appeared to be ideal, one any person would covet. The couple was one of the most sought-after screenwriting partnerships in Hollywood.
Both Didion and Dunne had published critically-acclaimed books and the couple travelled often to exotic locations, while maintaining a home in New York City. They adopted a daughter that they cherished, named Quintana Roo. Nonetheless, eventually, things took a turn for the worse.
Quintana Roo was hospitalized with pneumonia in late 2003. This illness later caused septic shock, sending their daughter into a coma only five months after she and her husband said their vows.
This illness devastated Didion, though she and her husband still hoped for a recovery. Their daughter spent years in and out of the hospital before her health improved, though at a cost.
John Dunne collapsed of a heart attack while he and Didion ate supper, days before Quintana Roos is released.
And so began Didion’s journey into her year of magical thinking. Magical thinking, Didion explains through both her book and play, is a type of thinking which connects mental causation to the physical world.
In other words, if a person thinks hard enough, the wished-for event can actually occur. Thus, Didion spent a year outwardly accepting her husband’s death, while secretly believing that he was still alive. It wasn’t until Joan lost her daughter, Quintana, as well that the magical thinking ended, and reality set in.
There is no doubt that The Year of Magical Thinking is a very emotionally-charged theater production. Though the loss of husband and daughter are specific to Didion, nearly everyone has lost someone.
Of course, this universality would be impossible to communicate without the perfect actress.
As a one-woman show, it would be impossible for The Year of Magical Thinking to survive without an extraordinary actress. The woman chosen by the Strand, Dianne Hood, does not disappoint.
Because the play is based upon the memoir written by Joan Didion, one would expect the actress to personify Joan Didion and to adapt to her mannerisms and quirks. Interestingly enough, Hood is not the Joan one would expect.
“We decided right away it [was] going to be about any woman.” Hood explained. And with that in mind, Hood completed her goal. While at times overly dramatic, Hood was able to maintain a connection to her audience that never wavered.
When she spoke, she would turn to an audience member and focus her eyes directly on that person, a seeming conversation between just the two of them.
She showed all of the signs a grieving woman would show; her eyes glistened when she spoke of her sadness and loneliness, her movements around the stage swung between slow and somber, and irrational and impulsive.
Looking around the room during the performance, it was difficult to find even one person not completely mesmerized by Hood’s quiet elegance.
She seemed to personify exactly what anyone experiencing grief would go through internally. Dianne Hood speaks to her audience, but also to herself as she moves through a seemingly-endless journey of loss.
The Year of Magical Thinking enraptures its audience and brings them to a new understanding of what it means to love, and what that love means once the person is gone.
The Year of Magical Thinking runs until February 19th.
