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Apologia by Alexi Kaye Campbell at the Roundabout Theatre Company

During the writing workshops I took as a student, writers were often told, "you have all of this information in your head but none of it is on the page. We don't know what you know."

Someone should've said that to Alexi Kaye Campbell while writing his play Apologia.

Apologia takes place in the English countryside house of expat Kristin Miller, who was some sort of political activist (just in title, we never really know what she does per say, but Vietnam is mentioned) and some sort of super famous art historian (I know what you're thinking: those exist?) who has written a memoir that excludes all mention of the sons she basically abandoned when they were children. Oh, yes, and it's her birthday, which is just an excuse for her family to gather at that very moment. Yes, this is a classic version of what I like to call a "family gathers, secrets revealed" play.

So Kristin's son, the one who has his shit together, Peter, arrives with his American (and of course vulgar and obnoxious girlfriend, Trudi. Kristin claims she left America to get away from people like her. Oh, puhlease. If Trudi is the worst of the Americans you've met, you didn't meet enough people.) Yes, Trudi is a pain in the ass (and she's not helped by the truly inept performance of Talene Monahon) but Kristin is a flat-out bitch to her. And it's clear this is not because Kristin is protective of her son--she's just a bitch. Peter travels the world and works for a bank (which is a big problem for Kristin, who clearly lives an affluent life. Money is the enemy, unless it's hers apparently.) but it's not quite clear how much of a relationship he has with his mother. Do they see each other frequently? Is this the first time in years they've seen each other? Why would he bother to come to see her for this particular birthday? He seems at ease with her, in that very British way, but at no point does he defend Trudi against his mother, or tell his mother to ease up on her. Okay, fine, Campbell wants to show what a gorgon Kristin is. I get it.

And of course, we move onto the quintessential component of a "family gathers, secrets revealed" play: the dinner scene, during which we're told, yet again, by an old friend of Kristin's, Hugh, that Kristin was a huge activist in the 60s and 70s. We get no other details, no elaboration. And then at some point she becomes a major player in Art History (again, what does that mean? We're not really sure what she really did to become so successful. Successful enough that her memoir has it's own island display in Barnes and  Noble.) and moves to Italy, which causes her sons' father to take them back to England. And I guess, I don't know, it's implied that she just lets them go and doesn't have much of a role in their lives. Kristin had to make a choice--she could have a successful career, or she could have a family. She could not have it all.

Okay, hold the phone. What kind of messed up bullshit is this, Alexi Kaye Campbell? And Campbell pretends this is some sort of sexist view that he thinks is reprehensible (Trudi comments that Kristin's books are on the shelves chronologically, and it wasn't until the 70s, until Kristin was active doing...whatever she was doing, that a ton of female writers/authors were published. What does Kristin have to do with this? Who is she? Is she supposed to be some sort of Susan Sontag or Gloria Steinhem type person?) but it's all unearned. When Simon, Kristin's other son who is depressed and destructive, tells her in a long, unnecessary second act monologue that it is her absences he remembers the most about her, she finally understands the affect her career success has had on her kids. And this is after Peter blows up at her at the end of the first act. All of this is completely unearned as well, including Kristin's realization and breakdown at the very end of the play. All of a sudden she feels bad for abandoning her kids? I just couldn't buy it. Mostly because we don't know anything about her. There's nothing on the page or the stage to understand her or any of these characters. It  might be all in Campbell's head but we the audience don't see it.

It would've been interesting to see some version of Apologia written by a woman. Sure, some women still feel like they must choose between having a family or a career to this day (a choice a man never has to make) but I'm sure a woman would've given it some nuance, had a deeper understanding of the issue. Because as Apologia is now, Kristin is a bitch until her maternal instincts kick in. And what, Alexi Kaye Campbell, are you trying to say there?

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