Actor Colleen Madden andDirector C. Michael Wright teamed together once again to bring Pamela Gien’s The Syringa Tree to APT’s TouchstoneTheatre on June 29. The intimate Spring Green space and Madden’s dynamic,multifaceted one-woman performance combined in an emotional ride that hadaudience members laughing, then weeping over the tale of a privileged daughterof a white English physician during South Africa’s era of apartheid.
Lizzie, Madden’s maincharacter, begins the play as a hyperactive 6-year-old, growing to maturityunder the care of her black nurse, Salamina. Along the way a baby is born, ariot occurs and several people die. Only sound effects, lighting cues andMadden’s astounding performance communicate the narrative, and rarely have theybeen used more effectively.
Madden plays 24different rolesfemale and male, old and young, white as well as blackusingnothing other than voices, inflections and physical movements. Not even hercostume changes. Madden has always used voice to define her characters. Herability to maintain distinctions between English and Afrikaans accents andmanage the dialects of several African tribesboth speaking and signingisremarkable. Her ability to make those characters as moving as they are duringthe uninterrupted two-hour performance is an almost unparalleled feat of actingprowess.
