Body of Work

S.L. ACTORS GIVE FINE PERFORMANCES IN
A PERFECT GANESH
(excerpt)
January 31, 2001, Celia Baker, The Salt Lake Tribune

Joan Mullaney's Kitty is endearing and aggravating.   Marilyn Holt's sensitive performance makes Margaret believable and sympathetic.   Kirt Bateman portrays Kitty's dead son, Walter, and several other characters.   The solo scene in which Walter recounts his own death is perhaps the play's finest moment; Bateman delivers it with deeply affecting sorrow.

Tony Larimer's directorial choices present McNally's complex play with great clarity. Simplicity in visual environments keeps the action uncluttered. A marvelous sound design (by Cheryl Ann Cluff) reveals what can't be seen.

A Perfect Ganesh is thought-provoking without being aggressive or offensive. The issue it deals with is really acceptance, of several kinds. The fine performances of four Salt Lake City actors temper the play's sorrowful moments with grace and humor. In the extreme intimacy of the Downstairs Theatre the experience has particular intensity.