IN QUIETNESS

Walkerspace
46 Walker Street
NY NY

8-30 January 2016

Written by: Anna Moench
Directed by: Danya Taymor

Featuring: Blake DeLong, Kate MacCluggage, Alley Scott, Lucy DeVito, Rory Kulz

In Fort Worth, Texas, at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, there is a Homemaking Program for which the mission is expressed in the scripture of Titus 2:3-5: “3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” Yes, this is a real thing. In 2016.

In IN QUIETNESS, a workaholic woman discovers her husband has been having an affair with a woman he met in a bible study group. As if that weren’t enough, the other woman has been hit by a taxi and is now in a coma. The husband Paul (played with a deep sincerity by Blake DeLong) is wracked with guilt. His wife, Max, decides to save her marriage by quitting her high-powered job and following her husband when he joins a seminary. This seminary, much like the real one in Fort Worth, has a program for the wives of the male students: The Homemaking House. Max exaggerates her housekeeping abilities in order to gain admission, but once there, finds she does not fit in. Determined to repair her relationship with Paul, Max works hard to learn how to be a perfect, gracious, 1950’s-style, ideal housewife. Disgustingly, the more submissive she becomes, the more turned on Paul gets.

Kate MacCluggage, who plays Max, is absolutely riveting. You can’t take your eyes off her even when she is just listening. Her lovely, expressive face speaks volumes. The entire cast is excellent, and the set is superb—a box set that suggests a church, but works as many other locations while always keeping the church looming over everyone.

I won’t spoil it by giving away the ending, but it was not what I wanted it to be.

- Jean Tait -