Theater Review: WHAT’s ‘Summer, 1976’ An Insightful Look At Female Friendship

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre astounds with its breathtaking production of “Summer, 1976.” Following the friendship of Alice and Diana, two starkly different women pulled together during a tumultuous summer in Columbus, Ohio, this play is as simple as it is nuanced.

Alice, a self-proclaimed free spirit living as a housewife to an economist, and Diana, an incredibly uptight and meticulous single mother and art professor, aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. But as their young daughters Holly and Gretchen become best friends, the two are forced to tolerate one another. Through conversations over a joint in the backyard, jousts at the community pool, and long car rides from city to city, tolerance grows into friendship, as the two women help one another through the challenges of life, growing both together and apart in a story both hilarious and heart-wrenching.

Despite the two-person cast and unchanging set, the show keeps you engaged every second, including everything from a crumbling babysitting co-op to a sexy grad student to an incredible thrifting adventure, viewers are somehow left both satisfied and yearning for more.

Annie Miesels delivers an airy, easygoing, and authentic performance as Alice. Portraying the easy-going hippie with care and attention that allows audiences to discover Alice’s depth and intelligence gradually along with Diana, Miesels astounds. It is her multifaceted interpretation of the flakey yet incredibly sharp Alice that brings a jaunty levity to this incredibly profound narrative.

Jennifer Van Dyck, playing Diana, gives a performance both humorous and emotionally impactful. With her calculated, punchy speech and cold intensity melting into a sort of childish vulnerability as the show progresses, Van Dyck is able to represent the deeply complicated and tortured nature of this militant and seemingly unshakeable woman, putting up and taking down her character’s carefully constructed facade in a delicate and convincing performance.

The pairing of these two theatrical powerhouses would be enough to put on an incredible show, portraying two women who contradict not only each other but themselves at every turn. Yet through the magic show-making of the WHAT production team, they are elevated to an incomparable level. The simple yet beautiful set, featuring art panels and lush vines, designed by Kevin Judge, compliments the narrative with a striking efficiency.

Costumes, designed by Jennifer Spagone, suit the characters down to the tiniest detail, with a billowing floral dress emphasizing Alice’s flowy approach while Diana’s jeans and blouse embody her calculated attempt (and failure) to appear organically at ease.

The lighting (by Patricia M. Nichols) and sound design (Grace Oberhofer) allow the narrative to incorporate various timelines and settings in an easy-to-follow format, despite the small cast and unchanging set. Orchestrated by stage manager Lauren Nicole Jackson with the guidance of director Daisy Walker, there is no part of this show that leaves you wanting.

Through the work of an incredible cast and production crew, WHAT is able to put on a performance of “Summer, 1976” that earns as many laughs as it does tears. Whether these women remind you of a friend, a family member, or even of yourself, the performance has a deeply personal quality to it. The intimacy of female friendship and the pain of the passage of time in a changing world is captured brilliantly within this must-see production.

DETAILS:

“Summer, 1976”

At Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Route 6, Wellfleet

Through Aug. 31

Information and reservations: 508-349-9428, WHAT.org