by Anne Petree
As Ruth Steiner, the protagonist in Donald Margulies play Collected Stories, Helen Mirren takes charge and never relinquishes command of the stage. Ruth, a strong yet vulnerable woman, is the centerpiece of this two-character drama. She is a writer, a latecomer to the "beat generation" whose time has come and gone. Now she teaches her craft rather than practices it. Enter into her life Lisa Morrison, a young and gifted writer who manages to get past Ruth's tough exterior and into her heart - not an easy feat as Ruth has had it locked away for many years. The vivacious 29-year old actress Anne-Marie Duff manages to hold her own for the most part with her more experienced and accomplished co-star. Mirren's presence and sheer star quality make it nearly impossible for the audience to take its eyes off her.

The play begins with Lisa arriving at Ruth's apartment for a tutorial on her short story. She is annoyingly eager to make a good impression and comes across as a brown-noser. She tries very hard to make Ruth like her and succeeds in doing so. Ruth takes the aspiring writer under her wing, hires her as an assistant and shapes and molds her talent into something marketable. Lisa becomes more than a student to Ruth, she becomes a friend and confidante as she shares her life with the young woman. In the third scene of the first act, Ruth talks about the great love of her life, Delmore Schwartz, a respected writer ofhis generationon the downside of his life. At this point, the spotlight belongs to Mirren-she is center stage and relates the story of her doomed love affair with such heartbreaking reality it's hard to imagine a dry eye in the house.This revelation leads, ultimately, to tragedy when Lisa takes the story and uses it as the basis for her first novel.

Ruth, upon reading the advance copy, is angry and hurt by the betrayal. This final scene gives us the best interplay between the two characters as Ruth's outrage is unleashed on Lisa who refuses to admit she's done anything wrong. "I could've used your friendship but you were too busy going through my panty drawer, scavenging through my personal effects," Ruth accuses. "That's not what I did!" is Lisa's less than convincing answer. "They aren't your stories, Ruth. Not anymore. They stopped being your stories when you told them to me," is her excuse which rings hollow as we see the pain this betrayal has inflicted upon Ruth. Helen shines in this scene; her pain, not only emotional but physical due to the ravages of cancer, is evident in her voice as well as her body. "This is my life, dammit! You've appropriated my life! Maybe you thought it was up for grabs. Maybe you thought I was fair game. Maybe you thought I'd be dead by now!" Ruth tells her. Lisa's desperate attempts to undo the damage and at the same time deflect blame present Ms. Duff with some of her best moments of the evening. The story ends with Ruth ending the relationship: "I can't talk to you anymore...Our trust is broken." Then with the ultimate cut, "Look, do me a favor, take out the trash with you, I've got a leaky bag." She has relegated Lisa to her former position as assistant, obviously no longer a friend.

At the end, Ruth is left alone with her broken heart, to mourn yet another relationship in which she was betrayed. It is at this point that the director, Howard Davies makes a misstep in what seems to be an attempt at consistency. Since he has started and ended each scene with smoky 50's jazz music, he again uses it at this point. It is unfortunate that he has chosen to do so. We see Ruth, alone, dejected, destroyed by this betrayal, her phone ringing endlessly as it has done throughout the play-the lights slowly fading to black and this inappropriate jazz music begins to play. This jars the audience, destroying the poignancy, power and depth of the final moment.

The set, designed by John Gunter, is a beautifully realized New York apartment. Book cases line two of the three walls, the furniture is appropriately shabby and sparse. Piles of Ruth's papers are scattered about-it looks lived in. Peter Mumford's fabulous lighting design sets the mood for each scene-beautiful sunlight streams through the windows at the beginning when the relationship between the two characters is new and fresh. At the end, after Lisa has betrayed her and Ruth is left alone again, the lighting is the steely gray of an overcast gloomy day-a perfect representation of the darkness that has again descended upon her life.

Overall, this is a fine production that showcases the talents of the two performers. It is definitely a production that should please the fans of the exquisitely talented Helen Mirren.