‘Shadow Box’ confronts death head on

Friday, Nov. 2, 2001 | 9:29 a.m.

In the final days of a loved one's life, how do you say goodbye, handle your emotions and make amends?

These issues are explored in the powerful play "The Shadow Box," a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama written by actor/director Michael Cristofer.

Set in three hospice cottages in California, the play, which will be performed this weekend and next at Community College of Southern Nevada's Nicholas J. Horn Theatre, looks at the lives of three terminally ill patients and how their loved ones come to grips with the realities of death and loss.

There is blue-collar worker Joe and his wife, Maggie, who is in such denial about her husband's impending death that she won't even enter the cottage and has yet to tell their 14-year-old son that his father is dying.

There is Brian, a teacher and a writer who wants to live every last minute of his life to the fullest. He's accompanied by his wild ex-wife, Beverly, and his lover, Mark -- who is just as uncomfortable with Beverly's outrageous behavior as he is with her relationship with Brian.

There is Felicity, the blind, tenacious wheelchair-bound aging mother who is fighting death to the very last minute and rarely appreciates her overburdened care-giving daughter, Agnes. Meanwhile Agnes is trying to find herself.

"(The play) has a lot of levels with it that people can identify with," director April Holladay, said.

It was performed on Broadway in 1977. In 1980 it was made into a television movie directed by Paul Newman and starring Joanne Woodward, Christopher Plummer and Valerie Harper.

Holladay said that someone asked her whether the play is topical, and the director admits herself that she's wondered whether it will draw large audiences in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when people might be looking for lighthearted topics.

But hopefully, Holladay said, people will attend. The play isn't so much about death, per se, as it is about hope relationships and embracing the present moment.

"No matter who we are, we're going to have to face death," Holladay said. "What's important is right now. If you are in contact with someone you love, it's important to tell them that you love them. It's time to deal with the now."