Tuesdays with Morrie is a lovely play about dying and living, about making the most of one's life and learning the importance of expressing love. In Jeffrey Hatcher's intelligent adaptation of Mitch Albom's bestselling book, all the drama in Albom's story is gently brought to life, and Albom's message to the planet — you'd better love now, tomorrow is the night — is communicated with only occasional wandering into sentimentality. Much of the success of the American Stage production is due to the wonderful direction of T. Scott Wooten and the superb acting of Michael Edwards as sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, and Chaz Mena as sportswriter and former Brandeis student Mitch. I'd seen Morrie before — several years ago at Sarasota's Asolo Theatre — but the St. Petersburg version showed me possibilities that only remained latent in the earlier one. It's true that the play has its limits — its vision of a well-lived life is surprisingly narrow, and its reaches a thematic plateau about halfway through its length which it only surpasses in its very last moments. But still, this is the sort of drama that gets under your skin and challenges you to evaluate not just its characters' lives but your own. Unless you're planning on living forever, it wouldn't hurt to have a look.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2009.