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by Joanna McClelland Glass, directed by Marti Maraden

CanStage/National Arts Centre, Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, Toronto

April 27-June 11, 2005

A young woman from a small town becomes the secretary for a curmudgeonly old judge in a big city.  Their initial antagonism gradually turns to friendship.  Numerous variations of the kind of story that makes up the plot of Trying have been told before.  What makes Trying special is the author’s lucid observation of human behaviour, her keen eye for significant detail, that turns potential stereotypes into memorably distinctive individuals.  The result is a splendidly-written gem of a play given an equally handsome production.        

Joanna McClelland Glass based Trying on her own experiences of working in Washington, D.C., in 1967 as a secretary for the 81-year-old Francis Biddle, former Attorney General under FDR and Chief American Judge at the Nuremberg Trials.  Both Paul Soles as Biddle and Caroline Cave as Glass’s stand-in Sarah give exquisitely natural performances.  Soles makes clear that Biddle’s irritability stems not from Sarah but from his frustration with the debilitation of illness and ageing.  Even in the midst of a dispute Cave reveals Sarah’s underlying compassion for Biddle.  Director Marti Maraden has orchestrated their encounters with great insight and sensitivity and shows how their relationship becomes a refuge against their loneliness as individuals.  You’ll feel privileged to have known them.           

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2005-05-05

Photo: Caroline Cave and Paul Soles. ©Andrée Lanthier.