Elegy for a Lady

Abstract

Arthur Miller’s Elegy for a Lady has long been overlooked as one of his lesser produced plays. However, productions of said play, such as the one Always Love Lucy Theatre displayed at Trenton Public Library, show the significance of this overlooked one-act. While this show lacked the traditional staging utilized in a theater—it took place in a local library—it subsequently proved that Miller shows (particularly such intimate shows) can truly be performed anywhere to great effect. Seating was limited and intimate with around eighteen audience seats, but this turned out to be the perfect environment for Miller’s 1982 play. The actors helped add to this intimate feel by joining the people and world around them before the show started. This helped the audience feel connected to the actors on stage once the show began as though they were everyday people. This feeling of intimacy combined with the actors projecting like real people paid off later in the play, making the story they undergo feel as though it was a shared human experience of all who attended.The scene was set with various props including handbags, a sweater, a kettle, and five scarves (three of which were cheetah print, with the rest being individual designs). The items on the table lent themselves to a more contemporary interpretation of the play rather than an eighties setting. While the play is directed to take place in “what slowly turns out to be a boutique” (5), the actors did not shy away from the fact that they were performing on site in a library. In fact, this alternate location lent itself to the narrative at times as they utilized the books and shelves that made up most of the space as though they were part of the store.Immediately upon entering the scene, there was a sense of closeness between the two characters that proved integral to the story and their interpretation. This production amplified the personal connection struck by the Man (Joseph Fusco) and Proprietress (Saima HuQ), even as complete strangers. In fact, they seemed to take solace in being strangers, as this developed a theme that was heavily leaned upon in the production: the idea of finding comfort in the unknown. Leaning into this interpretation lent itself well to the subtleties of the text as well as the play’s intriguing ending when the Proprietress says, “You never said her name,” to which the Man smiles, almost conspiratorially, and responds, “You never said yours” (19).There are a multitude of instances in the play where we see the Man unsure of something present within his life, particularly his lover. Yet he references how she also feels unsure in him because she feels as though he is only using her for pleasure. The Man seems to be looking for something “perfect” in both the item he is shopping for as well as within his relationship. However, he seems unable to find this idea of “perfect.” This production leaned heavily into the idea of not knowing what “perfect” truly is, even though we as humans still try our best to chase it. The Proprietress offers herself as a wise guide for the Man as she states, “Perhaps . . . that it’s perfect, just as it is? . . . That it is all that it could ever have become?” At this point, the two characters (who are strangers), find themselves closer than ever as the Proprietress hands the Man a gift for his lover (in this production a scarf rather than the pocket watch in the text). Following this line, the Man sits down as the Proprietress comforts him by putting her hand on his shoulder. As he begins to understand what she says, he grabs her hand, with the scarf that she handed him moments ago as the gift for his lover being the only thing connecting their two hands as they embrace and comfort one another.This connection between the two characters, with the scarf separating their hands, proves to be the most intimate moment between them. They do not kiss each other as the text suggests but rather share a bond, represented by the scarf itself. The scarf sitting between their two hands signifies the advice the Proprietress has given him as the real thing that unites them together in that moment, with the Proprietress playing the role of life guide for the Man entering her boutique.The director, Saima HuQ, seems to have made very deliberate choices in the direction of this play to emphasize specific themes she sees presented within the text. While concepts of love, loss, and rejection are present within the play, these became peripheral to the central theme—how we as humans cope with the ideas of perfection and the unknown. Throughout the play, and especially toward the end, we saw the development of the Man toward a better understanding through the teachings and wisdom given to him by the Proprietress. They found an immediate bond with one another from the moment he asked, “Do you have anything for a dying woman?” (6), to his final “Thank you. Thank you . . . very much” (19). We are shown not only how their relationship becomes closer but also how the Man’s perception of “perfection” and the “unknown” develops. By the end he finds peace not only within his relationship with the dying friend and the gift for which he is searching but also within himself in the process. Always Love Lucy Theatre’s production of Elegy for a Lady can’t help but make you wish for this play to be produced more frequently. It is an incredible piece that leaves the entire audience automatically relating the characters and plot to pieces of their own lives in order to get a better understanding of themselves and the world in which they live, which is ultimately, surely, one of the many goals of all theater.