Directed by John Henry Davis, the two men, one Russian and the other American, speak informally together between sessions at an armaments negotiating table in Switzerland in the 1980s. The play was inspired by a real-life incident in 1982 in which two negotiators in Geneva took such a walk and managed to reach an off-table agreement while in the woods.
Set on a minimal stage suggesting the forest, Andrey Botvinnik (Tony Abatemarco) and John Honeyman (David Nevell) deliver a delightfully impressive number of precisely chosen words during the approximately two-hour run time. The dialogue is natural but telling in terms of character, and often amusingly droll. The intimate negotiations between the two men portray the difficulty of disassembling defenses of all kinds— personal, national, and nuclear.
Abatemarco and Nevell embody their roles with insight, engagement and enthusiasm, allowing the audience to experience an unfolding relationship between two men of integrity on opposite sides of an unspoken Iron Curtain. Honeyman, the sympathetic but results-oriented American, is less interested in chit-chat than in making actual progress, while Botvinnik, a bit more seasoned, seems to have learned that the personal matters more.
Simple staging, consisting of a log, a stump and a curved path rising out of the woods, allows the acting and dialogue to remain central. The changing seasons over which the plot unfolds are sparingly evoked through lighting, birdsong, scattered fall leaves and Botvinnik gathering spring flowers. The men don trench coats in the fall and heavier coats and hats as they shiver in winter. Their well-tailored coats and suits are fitting for each character and even called attention to through some verbal sparring over Italian vs. British clothiers. (Fortunately, an orange tie is mentioned only as a joke.)
Most hauntingly in terms of staging, dozens of noosed ropes hang in the backdrop, representing the woods themselves, but also looming as a reminder of the stakes involved in these men’s talks.
Though 30 years have passed since this hypothetical dialogue, the need to reach across boundaries and communicate with perceived adversaries— at home during this election season and abroad— is as necessary as ever. The play is a riveting reminder of how difficult but important it is to find common ground and reach agreement. The two men try their best, rather like Didi and Gogo in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, in the face of seeming futility. Ultimately, A Walk in the Woods attests to the palpable possibility of individual relationships, even as each individual negotiates within the oppressive power of the larger socio-political forces.
“A Walk in the Woods” runs through May 22, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm, at the International City Theatre (ICT), 330 East Seaside Way, Long Beach. Tickets are $47-$49. For tickets or more information, call the ICT box office at (562) 436-4610, or visit ictlongbeach.org .
