Under director Julieanne Ehre's vision of 'The Lady from the Sea,' greasy joan & company's current production of Henrik Ibsen's forlorn tale is a vivid and thoughtful narration of the struggle in finding one's place in life and in love. Ellida, a lighthouse keeper's daughter who was unconventionally betrothed to an American sailor thought lost at sea, feels trapped by her marriage to Dr. Wangel and uncertain of her tacit role as mother to his daughters Bolette and Hilda. As suggestive in her name, Ellida's challenge is one of elision, that is, of finding the right blend of past and present and synthesizing her experiences into a proper whole.
Ibsen's somewhat ethereal story allows Ehre the freedom to explore the ambiguity of Ellida's psyche. Dr. Wangel, played by the doting Paul Noble, questions how "here" she is. And Ibsen's other subplots, whether the amorous pursuit of Bolette (the responsible yet wishful Nicole Burgund) by Dr. Arnholm (an earnest and methodical David W.R. Inglis) or the budding flirtation between Lyngstrand (a smartly languid Christopher McLinden) and Hilda (a playful and taunting Ashley Neal), are all mediated in Ehre's vision with respect to each character's unclear relation(s) with Ellida.
As Ellida, Elizabeth Rich thrives on this uncertainty and as her quivering indecisiveness makes clear she is completely inhabited with the essence of contradiction. Not until the moment of her character's decision, a moment which is an insight into the concept of 'promise,' does Rich transform herself from ebb and flow ("like the sea") and illustrate truly how powerful a choice, a "promise, freely given," can be. Scenic designer Michael York's simple and elegant elicitation of a secluded Norwegian coastal enclave, and Alison Heryer's impeccably subdued costumes give Ehre a clear, monochrome foundation out of which Rich's Ellida can say something truly vivid about free-will.