Albee’s ‘Women’ stands tall in Pear’s production

Playwright Edward Albee tackled themes that weren’t always popular, pretty or even pleasant. Pear Theatre’s production of “Three Tall Women” is unpleasant at times, but Vicki Victoria’s performance as A, the matriarch of the family, makes it a play worth seeing.

A is 92, a wealthy, proud, aristocratic woman who shows encroaching signs of Alzheimer’s but still has a solid sense of humor that can sometimes be tinged with bitterness.

Reed Flores’s direction and Sonya Meyers’ set design help drive Victoria’s performance, as well as those of Kim Seipe as B and Francheska Loy as C. Flores attempts to move B and C to different locations in an effort to give the rather static Act 1 some action and allow Meyers’ design to be used to good effect.

The stylish settee at the foot of the king-size bed is a real find, as is the vintage dressing table, covered with at least a dozen pill bottles for A, and a cushioned bench. The walls are papered in an embellished gold and green. Lots of plush pillows and a padded comforter complete the décor.

Seipel’s B is clearly A’s caregiver. By contrast, Loy’s C seems aloof and disdainful of the older women, in part because she’s not a family member.

That changes in Act 2, when the C character becomes a young A—enthusiastic, interesting and eager for her life to begin as a wife and mother. The other two women are also portraying the older women at different ages, and while A is no longer senile, B seems less caring and dealing with hurts and disappointments in her life.

At one point, a young man (Mikee Loria) walks into the room to see his grandmother (or is it his mother?). Loria has no lines; he sits by the bed until curtain call.

Albee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1994 when “Women” was first produced off-Broadway. The play didn’t premiere on Broadway until 2018, when it won two Tony Awards for two of its three actresses.

“Three Tall Women” runs through July 17 in repertory with “The Piano Teacher” at the Pear in Mountain View. Tickets are $35-$38 at www.thepear.org or 650- 254-114