The Hasty Heart

The Hasty Heart

Running Time: 2 hrs, 15 min

A medical ward on the Burma front during World War II might seem an unlikely place for love to blossom, especially between an Englishwoman and a Scot, but that's what happens in this relatively old but charming John Patrick play, produced by Different Stages. Lachie, the Scotsman, is wounded in battle and loses a kidney, and his other kidney is on its way to failure. Because kidney transplants were nonexistent in World War II, Lachie doesn't have long to live, so a sympathetic colonel chooses to keep the truth from him and asks a ward full of soldiers of different nationalities – English, Australian, New Zealander, American, and Burmese – and their English nurse to befriend him and care for him. Lachie, however, isn't interested in their friendship or their care, and an often comic, albeit tense struggle develops between the caregivers and their ignorant patient.

While Patrick's ideas and language are, in many ways, profound, his story is very predictable. Given the almost clichéd nature of the plot, the production leans heavily on quality performances to help it work, and director Bob Tolaro is fortunate in his casting. Jon Boatwright, R. Bryan Peterson, Odilon Ross, and Charles P. Stites not only bring talent and sensitivity to their roles as Lachie's wardmates, but also utilize distinct and more than adequate dialects to embody their countries of origin. Almost without exception, the dialect work in the production is exemplary, particularly that of Preston Jones as Lachie. Moreover, Jones brings to the difficult role a quality that is absolutely essential: a likable innocence. Matching him blow for emotional blow is Beth Burroughs as the caring, loving nurse Margaret. The scenes between the two of them are moving and the most potent in the production.

While the first two acts work, neither is as effective as the third, in which Tolaro has his actors build beautifully to many highly emotional moments and then has them take ample time as they work through their conflicting feelings. Silence in a theatre is golden – if you can get an auditorium full of people to be silent and motionless, something's definitely working, and this exactly describes the third act here. While it could have been a case of opening-night nerves, Tolaro seems to have had his actors treat the first two acts differently: The actors build the tension effectively in these acts as well, but they don't always take the time necessary for the tension to work itself out, so things seem rushed.

One of the many memorable lines in the play is, "They say that sorrow is born in the hasty heart." In this case, sorrow might have been born in the hasty tempo, but as with his actors, and despite the foreseeable events of the plot, Tolaro is fortunate in his script. Patrick wrote the play at a time when things such as true love, mutual respect, and camaraderie were things to which one should aspire. Each is quite present, not only in this very wise play, but in this well-executed production, leaving a taste that is sweet, lasting, and easily savored.