Set in a city known for bridges, canals, gondolas, confusing piazzas, romance — and the fact that it is slowly sinking into the ocean — Appoggiatura at the Indiana Repertory Theatre explores the depths of loss and remembrance through the lens of a family looking for resolution. “Appoggiatura” is a musical term for a note that leans into a another note, creating tension and delaying the final notation.
Helen (Susan Pellegrino), Silvie (Andrea San Miguel), and Aunt Chuck (Tom Aulino) arrive at their Venice hotel jet-lagged and without their luggage. The hotel doesn’t look anything like the Web photos, and the “tour guide-er” Marco (Casey Hoekstra) isn’t exactly what Helen expected. They are there to commemorate Gordon, Helen’s ex-husband and Aunt Chuck’s lover, by dumping his ashes in one of the canals. Gordon’s ashes are in the lost luggage, naturally. Marco leads and misleads the trio through the piazza’s and across bridges, through the crowds of tourists, until all are lost. Helen loses herself to memories (or is it memory?) of Venice as her younger self as a newlywed, remembering an adventurous Gordon and hope and promise. Aunt Chuck wanders the bewildering streets and bridges, remembering his love lost to Alzheimer’s disease. Sylvie connects to her lover at home as well, realizing that marriage to the woman she loves might not be what she truly wants at this particular time. Three musicians, Andrew Mayer, Paul Deboy, and Katrina Yaukey, do able service as a chorus to the story unfolding along the canals of Venice.
James Still, playwright of Appoggiatura, is at his most lyrical in Appoggiatura. The first two plays of this cycle, The House That Jack Built and Miranda, were produced at the IRT as well — and Appogiatura completes the stories of grief and loss and how they ripple through families. Peter Amster’s direction of the small cast deftly weaves a complex emotional story with depth and understanding. Set designer Lee Savage cleverly recreates Venice with sliding walls and moveable bridges.
A great cast, mainly from Chicago and new to the IRT, brings balance and nuance to their roles. Hoekstra’s Marco is a standout, bringing humor with his Italian accent one moment, then emotional depth to the sensitive role of a young Gordon in flashbacks the next. San Miguel plays the young romantic-minded Helen in flashbacks, then the tough Sylvie with grace. Aulino as Aunt Chuck conveys a fragility and yearning that the text requires. Pellegrino’s Helen makes the best of a tough situation, but is subtly damaged by her losses.
Appoggiatura remains at the IRT through March 31. Tickets are available online at irtlive.com or by calling the box office at 317-635-5252.