Review by Neal Newman
June 11, 2023
At first glance, BAKERSFIELD MIST seems to be a sitcom cartoon. But wait, it’s not. We meet Maude, who lives in a trailer park, furnishes it from cast-offs from junk stores, is a fired bartender, and a proud gun owner. She is also highly foul-mouthed. Lionel is a former director of the Met Museum in New York, an acclaimed author of art books, and a highly sought-after hunter of forgeries. He is also an insufferable snob.
They are brought together in Maude’s trailer in California when she hires him to examine a thrift store-bought painting she believes is a long-lost Jackson Pollock. She does not know who Pollock is, but a high school art teacher suggested it might be one of the master’s works. Maude is put off by Lionel’s fancy clothes, an air of superiority, and smug self-confidence. He uses the “blink” method to spot forgeries, which means he can instantly identify one. He is put off by the trailer trash location and her apparent uneducated vulgarity and lack of etiquette.
You think the Montgomery Theater is presenting a sitcom of the early Neil Simon variety. Wrong. These are not cartoon characters but fully presented creations. Playwright Stephen Sachs says the “blink” method doesn’t work with people. Maude and Lionel become well-rounded humans with complicated past lives of success and failure. You’ll have to see it to learn more.
This also allows Sachs to sneak in some teaching moments of Jackson Pollock’s brilliance and the value of art to our society and humanity. Seeing this play will make it necessary to plan a visit to the art museums. Sachs is also interested in the meaning of truth. Maude honestly believes that her painting is genuine, and Lionel believes it is a fake. But can you truly be certain of anything, especially in evaluating art?
Director Tom Quinn fields some terrific performances from Ellen Ratner and John Hedges. They handle the comedy in the first half with skill and then dig deeper into the souls of these people. Playwright Sachs always keeps the momentum with well-thought-out comedy lines that may make the play less artistically momentous as plays like RED by Logan or ART by Reza, but it’s a lot of fun.
Lionel: The Met, in New York, is like the Vatican in Rome.
Maude: Out of touch with reality?
Quinn’s design team is, as usual, first-rate, with Ken Clothier (set), Teal Knight (costumes), and Jim Leitner supplying everything necessary for the trailer trash milieu.
It should be noted that the play is “inspired” by a true story. A California truck driver rejected the Met director’s appraisal and continues to claim that her painting is genuine.
Be warned. BAKERSFIELD MIST had an acclaimed London run and dozens of international productions. The Sunday afternoon I attended was packed with a reverberant audience. Get your tickets now.
RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes with no intermission
BAKERSFIELD MIST by Stephen Sachs plays through July 2 at 124 N. Main Street, Souderton, PA; Tickets can be obtained at montgomerytheater.org or by calling 215-723-9984.
We did not like the language on this show. It’s not necessary to have so many of the f words. We left the show early!