STAGE REVIEW : Puig’s ‘Bouquet’: Triumph of the Human Spirit

Anne Bancroft is the one with the “nervous disorder,” but it’s Jane Alexander who has the case of nerves in Manuel Puig’s “Mystery of the Rose Bouquet,” in its American premiere at the Mark Taper Forum.

The two meet in Bancroft’s white-on-white suite in a luxurious Agentine psychiatric hospital. Bancroft is a rich, fractious old lady suffering from a depression brought on by the death of her favorite grandson in an auto accident. Alexander is an inexperienced nurse who needs this case, but isn’t sure she’s going to be able to handle this patient.

But not so fast. It’s also possible that Alexander is a vastly experienced psychiatric nurse who knows exactly what persona to assume in order to arouse the curiosity of a stubborn old woman and to get her to start eating.

Interesting premise, no? And it leads to a graceful and life-affirming play. As he did in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Puig shuts up two dissimilar people in a room and, in effect, throws away the key. And again, defying the rule that puts conflict at the heart of drama, the interest is to see how quickly they arrive at a relationship, in fact, a friendship.

For the Desmond Morrises of this world, humanity’s dominant instinct is a selfish one: the territorial imperative. In Puig’s opinion, what we really want is somebody to talk to.

And to pretend with. As in “Spider Woman” there’s a heavy use of the subjunctive mood: memories, nightmares, fantasies--here’s where the rose bouquet comes in--and daydreams. Some of these may bother the logical viewer. What is Alexander doing in Bancroft’s dream about her dead sister?

A psychological explanation can be devised, but the real reason is theatrical. This is a two-character play. No intruders wanted. We want to see how well the players will manage the imaginary roles, as well as the real ones.

Alexander’s “real” identity is, of course, one of the play’s big questions. Who is she when she goes off duty? Whom does she go home to? Does she let Bancroft assist her in her romantic fantasies as a sort of therapy project for the old lady--or does she, in fact, need a facilitator for her dreams?

Who is helping whom here? And what’s up with Bancroft? By now she realizes that her nurse isn’t all she seems; or rather that she is quite a lot more than she seems. Why doesn’t Bancroft speak up?

Because it would ruin the game. Fantasy and game-playing in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” are seen as neurosis. For Puig, games make the world go ‘round and fantasies are the vehicle of truth. All that counts is that the game be played with kindness. For all that we don’t understand about these two women, we do understand that they wish each other well.

Actresses Bancroft and Alexander take the Taper stage in just that spirit. Under Robert Allen Ackerman’s direction, they don’t play against each other, but for each other, keeping us within the circle of the play’s belief.

Do we believe Bancroft’s old lady as much as we do Alexander’s nurse? Probably not. From the very beginning of the play, she’s too sharp, too involved with life, to read as a depressed personality. Her appetite is there, even when she can’t eat a thing.

There’s a slight problem too with that Bronx accent, which Bancroft hasn’t taken any trouble to modify. This keeps yanking us back from Argentina, in a way that Alexander’s neutral accent doesn’t. The old lady’s shrewdness is wonderfully observed, though. It’s a sharp and entertaining performance, with the detail work still to come.

The nurse’s role is one that an actress could play for weeks without exhausting. Right now, Alexander makes us thoroughly accept the unconfident nurse that we see, with only the occasional hint--the efficient way she manages the blinds, for example--that we are dealing with a consummate drama therapist here.

In later performances, perhaps the nurse’s “mystery” will be more evident. But Alexander and director Ackerman seem to feel that the ultimate subtlety is to play her as simply as possible, and they may be right.

Certainly, we feel the character’s goodness. She’s like one of those wise figures in Pirandello who tell us to stop putting names on things--”truth,” “untruth”--and to trust life’s healing process. As with “Spider Woman,” we take the point that human instinct is a more reliable guide than words, especially words at the service of some system. The play is as small and consoling as a nightlight--and Arden Fingerhut’s lighting is as finespun as silk.

Performances Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday-Sunday matinees at 2:30. Closes Dec. 17. Tickets $22-$28; (213) 410-1062 or (714) 634-1300. ‘MYSTERY OF THE ROSE BOUQUET’

Manuel Puig’s play, at the Mark Taper Forum. Directed by Robert Allen Ackerman. Translated by Allan Baker. Sets and costumes Kenny Miller. Lighting design Arden Fingerhut. Casting Stanley Soble, C.S.A. Production stage manager Tami Toon. Stage manager Mary K Klinger. With Jane Alexander and Anne Bancroft.