Photo Credit: Anne Kenny Photography
Have you ever heard of the Diabelli Variations by Ludwig van Beethoven? The set of compositions for piano, often considered one of the greatest musical works of all time, has the most unexpected origin. The variations came to be when Anton Diabelli, an Austrian music publisher, wrote a waltz and invited numerous composers to create variations on it as a promotional idea. Somehow, that small, insignificant waltz spurred the imagination of Beethoven, who created not one, but 33 variations on it over the course of four years.
The Diabelli Variations weren’t composed for money or recognition, as they vastly outgrew the scope of Anton Diabelli’s project; so, why were they written? What was it about this work that impassioned Beethoven so deeply that he was willing to sacrifice everything for it? That is what the play 33 Variations, written by Moisés Kaufman and presented by Falls Patio Players, attempts to answer.
The set is filled with décor pieces mixing 19th-century furniture and contemporary areas, as the two time periods evolve simultaneously on stage. In the present, we are introduced to Katherine (Mary Beth Topf), a musicologist afflicted with a deadly disease and an obsession for Beethoven, as well as her daughter, Clara (Nicole Gross), who cares for her in her final months. Katherine’s last wish is to understand what motivated the master to write the Diabelli Variations; as her disease progresses, confining her to a wheelchair then her deathbed, Katherine relentlessly pores through Beethoven’s archives in search for an answer. Her findings literally sprout to life on stage as Beethoven (Brian Prestley), his friend Anton Schindler (D. Eric Woolweber) and Diabelli himself (Nick Marzinski). Katherine’ feverish obsession for the variations, as well as her advancing disease, mirror Beethoven’s own.
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The script is simply beautiful, mixing music, deep character development and its themes of obsession and purpose with brio. It doubles as a live piano concert, as pianist and music director Julie Johnson remains center-stage, letting the other actors dance around her as she plays the variations and provides a musical backdrop to the events unfolding before the audience. Giant screens in the background show Beethoven’s sketches, illustrating how his music came to life in a rarely seen fashion, even letting us see the notes being written in real time as Johnson plays them.
But the show, unfortunately, suffers from drawbacks betraying an amateurish production: Microphones regularly crackled and failed, the pianist was less than inspired at times, not all dialogue was fully memorized, and acting was sometimes uneven. Some actors, like Woolweber and Jane Preston (as Katherine’s friend, Gertrude), prove very skilled, but Katherine and Clara are far more sedate, making it difficult to remain interested. The play also suffers from pacing issues, as the scenes in the past are far more interesting to follow—beyond the exploration of the Diabelli Variations, Schindler’s affected behavior and Beethoven’s attitude make them plain fun.
Director Tom Berger’s stage direction is admirable at times, however, especially when it reflects the mirror-like structure of the script in the movements of actors on stage, and the conclusion of act one is nothing short of a stroke of genius. As demonstrated repeatedly by Falls Patio Players, 33 Variations has the potential to be an awe-inspiring play, but this version falls short of this ideal, although the story itself remains worth hearing.
Through Feb. 16 at North Middle School Auditorium, N88 W16750 Garfield Drive.
