YOUNG CHANG -- Notebook

I come from a happy family.

There are no crises brewing beneath our calm, happy life as the

Changs. I know that what seems to be, is.

We don’t drink whiskey in the a.m. hours, we don’t have relatives who

are alcoholics, we don’t settle for boredom nor apathy nor merely being

content, and we don’t tell each other to die.

We are nothing like the family in Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance,”

which is playing at South Coast Repertory’s Mainstage through Feb. 11.

But, somehow, I feel I’ve met the long-married couple stuck in their

contentment. I’ve met, somewhere, the daughter, the multiple divorcee who

erupts into hysterical fits. I’ve met the couple’s best friends who are

equally content and the alcoholic sister who asks her kin, “Why don’t you

die?”

I have witnessed such balancing acts in my relationships with friends,

in other people’s interactions, in my wildest imagination and in my

grimmest fears.

Though my home life does not resemble what I recently saw on stage,

Albee’s story is still reassuringly familiar -- reassuring because I’m

not alone in what I’ve seen.

“The most difficult thing about directing [“A Delicate Balance”] was

finding all the delicate balances that exist in the play,” said Martin

Benson, director of the show. “All the little revenges, how the family

functions as a group, the prices being paid to keep the unit together,

the moments of hysteria.”

Albee’s 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning play -- one of three for which he

won the coveted award -- is the story of Tobias and Agnes, a couple

settled in their routine and boredom, until one ordinary evening when

they are visited by their best friends, Edna and Harry.

The guests move in, explaining how they suddenly felt an unexpected

fear, while Tobias and Agnes’ daughter, Julia, returns home after the

failure of her fourth marriage.

Agnes’ sister, Claire, a recovering alcoholic, also lives in the

house. She constantly volleys bitter low-blows with her relations.

Between pre- or post-meal glasses of cognac and whiskey, the tension

between the main couple and their best friends erupts. Claire continues

to be her usual, sharp-tongued self. Julia throws multiple tantrums

because her room has been invaded by the non-family members, who have

unapologetically taken over the house.

“Oddly enough, what’s going on in the house -- she’s the only one who

sees it,” said Rene Augesen, who plays Julia. “She sees the truth of it.”

The role required that Augesen regress to the level of a “bratty kid,”

and the actress said the project was challenging.

“It’s difficult to give yourself permission to go to the extent that

she goes to,” she said. “She comes off as a 7- or 8-year-old.”

Kandis Chappell, who has performed more than a dozen shows at the

repertory, plays Claire. While the character gets many of the funny lines

in the play, Claire is not a happy person, Chappell said.

“Her humor is dark and true, and she says things no one else would

say,” she said. “There is anger and hurt in her, and because so much is

humorous, I find it hard to find the balance in Claire’s personality

between humor and the dark side.”

Off stage, the cast clicks. Augesen, Chappell and Benson

wholeheartedly agree the play’s rehearsals were filled with laughter and

fun.

“Sometimes you put on a play with very talented people but have little

conflicts,” Benson said. “But we had a great spirit in working on a play

with such intelligence.”

His goal is to have his Orange County audience share that spirit.

“I hope they will relate to some of the experiences in the play,”

Benson said. “What kind of commitments are we willing to make for our

friends? Do we really think we can live up to those commitments? What do

you do with the rest of your life once you’ve obtained comfort?”

I’ve thought about this, and I don’t know the answers. To be honest,

I’m not even sure I understand the questions. But in the balancing act of

my own life, I think I’ll take my time to think about it.

* YOUNG CHANG is the features writer at the Daily Pilot.

FYI

WHAT: “A Delicate Balance”

WHEN: Through Feb. 11. Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday,

2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: South Coast Repertory’s Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa

Mesa

COST: $28-$49

CALL: (714) 708-5555