INTERVIEW: Exploring the depths of isolation in ‘Typhoid Mary’
Photo: Keri Safran and Tasha Lawrence star in Typhoid Mary at Barrington Stage Company. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Brown / Provided by Matt Ross PR with permission.
There are only a few more chances left to catch Tasha Lawrence’s portrayal of the title character in Typhoid Mary, a play by Mark St. Germain now playing at the Barrington Stage Company in Downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The production, running through June 16, tells the story of Mary Mallon, aka “Typhoid Mary,” a woman identified as the first asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen that causes typhoid fever. Though she didn’t show signs of the fever, Mallon reportedly spread the disease to several people and was forced to live out her life in isolation on an island, away from any trace of humanity.
“I was visiting my parents in Mexico when I read the script,” Lawrence said in a recent phone interview. “It was sort of an odd place to be when I read it because it’s such a different place and time then where I was, but I think probably just Mary herself I found to be a fascinating character. She was so isolated in her own beliefs and never believed that she was infecting people or that she was a typhoid carrier and lived in such isolation, and I think trying to be understood and trying desperately not to be what she was. As a character that has that much conflict, it was an interesting challenge to have to live the way that she did with never believing who she was, so to speak. And being an Irish immigrant and ostensibly being on her own and having to navigate the world at that time would have been difficult for a woman. So that was mostly what attracted me was just her inner conflict and her struggle to get through life and stay sane.”
Although Typhoid Mary is not a long play, the drama proves exhausting for Lawrence, who never leaves the stage. She is joined in the production by Frances Evans, Miles G. Jackson, Kevin O’Rourke and Keri Safran, but it’s Lawrence’s part that demands the most stage time.
“She just emotionally is all over the map, and there’s flashbacks in the play where this little girl that she infected with typhus calls back to her,” the actress said. “So she can be in the present world speaking to someone, and then something will trip her memory. Mentally it’s very challenging to track that and to stay in it. She gets to a place in the play, which is not historically true but very effective dramatically, where she has a pretty major breakdown. It’s sort of a confession, and it comes very quickly out of nowhere. And so that was hard to get to.”
She added: “It was interesting, my director [Matthew Penn] was very generous and gentle with me in rehearsals with it and said, ‘Don’t go there every time we go through this scene,’ when we were in rehearsals because it is so exhausting. I have two shows today, and it’s always been daunting to have to go through it twice. That’s not to say that I’m not thoroughly enjoying it, but it is a journey for sure. But, yeah, Mary never leaves the stage, so I’m on stage from top to bottom.”
To prepare for the play, Lawrence had to do her homework. Barrington gave her many resources on Mallon, and then she listened to podcasts and did some reading herself about typhoid fever and Mallon. She also learned about the island where Mallon lived, realizing it was a desperate place.
“She spent the last 23 years of her life in isolation, and because she had typhus, no one wanted to be near her,” Lawrence said. “So I imagine it was pretty lonely — and being on an island surrounded by water away from anything other than the hospital that was also on the island at the time. She lived in a small cottage separate from the hospital, and she had a dog. So I think about that a lot. I’m a big dog lover, and I think that the dog probably would have given her a great amount of comfort.”
Lawrence, who has appeared on Broadway in Good People; Wilder, Wilder, Wilder; and Proof, is happy to be performing in Massachusetts at the legendary regional company. Her temporary move to Pittsfield is due in large part to her purchase of a home in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City.
“It’s lovely, and it’s a great company,” she said of Barrington. “I can’t say enough good things about it, and I’ve wanted to work here for a long time. I have spent the last 25 years or so in New York City, and then my partner and I bought a house in the Catskills in 2009. So I’m familiar sort of with the area. I mean, it’s a little bit further up than I am, but I’m from a small town outside of Montreal in Canada. And I was working at Vassar [College] doing a play up there about 10 years ago and fell in love with the area because it reminded me of home. It reminded me of where I came from, so that’s what prompted me to buy a home upstate. And so I’m there as much as I can be. When I’m not working, when I’m not in the city, I’m there.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Typhoid Mary, starring Tasha Lawrence, continues through June 16 at Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage. Barrington is located in Downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Click here for more information and tickets.
