Stage Door: Great actressing in "Summer 1976"
by Nathaniel R
It begins with a gesture. Twinned gestures, really, though they’re not identical. Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht enter from stage right and stage left, respectively and face the audience. Linney’s hand sweeps away from her body presentationally to the audience, It’s a fun and curious movement as if to say ‘here you are and here we are’ at once. There’s a sharp edge to it, though. Is it mocking and, if so, who is the target? Hecht soon makes a similar gesture, though the body language is sloppier with a ‘whatever’ nonchalance. And we’re off.
The two actresses begin to recount the story of how two very dissimilar mothers, Diana (Linney) and Alice (Hecht) met and how they improbably became close friends…