Summer, 1976 review: Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht soar on Broadway
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"People aren't just one thing."
So says Jessica Hecht's Alice, recounting a revelation from her youth near the beginning of Summer, 1976. The comment is in respect to her onstage counterpart, Laura Linney's Diana, but also forms the entire backbone of the engrossing two-hander between former Tony nominees now being staged at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
Summer, 1976's title speaks for itself, as the 90-minute show tells a tale of female friendship during those precious few months in alternating monologues looking back decades later. The story begins with Alice and Diana's first meeting in Columbus, Ohio, through a babysitting co-op, as both the women and the audience get a handle on the complex characters at the center of the stage.
Jeremy Daniel Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht in 'Summer, 1976'
Instead of reducing Diana and Alice to one-note opposites-attract clichés, playwright David Auburn's script accentuates the seemingly contradictory personalities at work within each person. Diana is an uptight control freak who also happens to be an artist with an unexpected baby after bedding an art school crush following a second date at Beneath the Planet of the Apes. And Diana describes Alice as "this sleepy-eyed little hippie" who "thought of herself as a free spirit, but she was in the most conventional of marriages: She wasn't working, she was essentially living like a 1950s housewife. She just thought she was unconventional because her house was messy."
Under the direction of Daniel Sullivan, Linney and Hecht deliver commanding performances in sharply different ways. Linney exudes steely confidence with a dash of haughty arrogance as Diana — perhaps masking insecurities over the humble trajectory of her own career. Meanwhile, Hecht's wide smile and easy-breezy tone disguise issues at home that Annie may not have the strength to acknowledge. Again, people are not just one thing.
Jeremy Daniel Jessica Hecht and Laura Linney in 'Summer, 1976'
While Linney and Hecht bring a big presence to the stage, the story that unspools is refreshingly small and intimate, mirroring the minimalist set design (one table, two chairs, and a bench). There is one surprising turn as well as two comedic pump-fakes that serve to keep the audience guessing; however, this is not a narrative filled with deep trauma. Instead, Summer, 1976 highlights how simpler moments and interactions along one's timeline can still have a profound and long-lasting impact — much like the play itself. Grade: A-
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