Matilda Lawler gives “Jellyfish” its sting

Kayla Teruel (top) is Franny nd Matilda Lawler is Suzy in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s world premiere of The Thing About Jellyfish adapted by Keith Bunin from the book by Ali Benjamin. Photo by Julieta Cervantes

I reviewed The Thing About Jellyfish for the Bay Area News Group papers
(Mercury News, East Bay Times, Marin Independent Journal).
Here’s the link to the review (warning: pay wall)

The thing about The Thing About Jellyfish is that it’s an incredible showcase for an extraordinary young actor. Matilda Lawler has gravity and grace beyond her years, and her starring role as Suzy in this adaptation of Ali Benjamin’s bestselling novel is reason enough to grab a ticket to this world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre.

Jelllyfish is grandiose production of a fairly small play (adapted from the book by Keith Bunin). There are all kinds of bells and whistles in the form of fancy projections, beautiful lights and scenery that barely ever stops shooting across the stage. But stripped of all that is the story of a 12-year-old girl (Lawler) whose trek into adolescence is complicated by her parents’ divorce and the sudden death of a girl who, until early onset middle school (a common afflicton), was her best friend.

Lawler commands the stage in her denim overalls and yellow tee. Suzy has an active mind and an affliciton that she has head described (derided?) as “constant talker.” Her mouth can barely keep up when her brain when she’s trying to share every cool fact she knows about various and sundry creatures of land, sea and laboratory slide. Her nerdy enthusiasm has not endeared her to her peers, so when Franny (Kayla Teruel), her bestie since kindergarten, turns on her in favor of more “popular” interests (boys!) and people (cool girl Aubrey!), Suzy is left on her own.

But then Franny drowns while on vacation with her mom, and Suzy’s only way to deal with her grief, shock and guilt over her rupture with Franny finds an outlet in several ways. First, Suzy, who has always been the most talkative person in the room, goes silent. Then she convinces herself that Franny, a strong swimmer, couldn’t have simply drowned. She must have been stung by a jellyfish – perhaps a super-deadly one that somehow made its way from Australia to Maryland.

Christiana Clark (left) plays a jellyfish expert (and zillion other roles) and Matilda Lawler is Suzy.
Photo by Julieta Cervantes

Lawler’s face registers every speedy emotion coursing through Suzy: desperation, hope, confusion, clarity, delusion, insecurity. You name it, Suzy will register it. According to the Internet (meaning take it or leave it), Lawler is 16 years old, and her ability to play the very definition of a “tween,” a child and a young adult is just staggering. Suzy can be annoying – or, as the kids say, “a lot” – but she’s also incredibly endearing, and Lawler’s assured, heartfelt performance strikes an astonishing balance between passion and precision.

At nearly two hours with no intermission, Jellyfish begins to wobble at about the 90-minute mark. There’s a weird conceit that Suzy has imagined a supervisory imaginary friend to guide her through the research project that will prove just how Franny died, but it doesn’t have any emotional payoff and leads to a diversion that distracts even further from what should be a powerfully emotional conclusion.

It’s clear that this production has been lavished with support, which indicates producers’ interests beyond Berkeley Rep – Broadway perhaps? For a new play, the show looks great and has a sturdy cast (the adults are good, but the young actors are all superb), but there’s narrative work to be done by director Tyne Rafaeli and writer Bunin and better balancing between the high-tech bells and whistles and the human-scale story. As it is, The Thing About Jellyfish has a breakout star in Lawler and a cool, sleek feel to it that should give way to more emotional warmth.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Thing About Jellyfish, adapted by Keith Bunin from the novel by Ali Benjamin, continues through March 9 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes (no intermission). Tickets are $25-$134. Call 510-647-2949 or visit berkeleyrep.org.