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33 Variations

Published Tuesday 10 March 2009 at 09:55 by Paul Berger

Nobody questioned whether, after a 46-year hiatus and at the age of 71, Jane Fonda would be able to handle a return to Broadway. Far from it, her starring role in Moises Kaufmann’s 33 Variations has been one of the most eagerly anticipated openings of 2009. And for good reason. Fonda is just one of the myriad highlights of this witty, laugh out loud drama-comedy about a woman’s obsession with one of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s master works.

Fonda plays Katherine Brandt, a musicologist fixated on Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, which consumed the German composer for the better part of four years. Impeding her work is a degenerative disease and a complicated relationship with her daughter Clara (Samantha Mathis). The play oscillates between present day New York and Bonn - where Brandt ventures to research her thesis - and 19th century Austria, where Beethoven is working maniacally, under constant threat of eviction and hounded by illness.

Switching effortlessly between the two worlds, the simple yet elegant staging sometimes resembles a dance. And the musical accompaniment of Diane Walsh, positioned at stage right, lends a sublime, almost ethereal quality to particular scenes. There are probably enough funny one-liners, delivered with expert timing by a brilliant supporting cast, to fill at least two comedies. But first and foremost, 33 Variations is a thought-provoking meditation on the creative process, motherhood and death. The only downside of the production - that with such a short run, Brandt and 33 Variations only have 15 weeks left.

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