SMART SELLS IT
Jean Smart is a phenomenal stage actress of great depth and specificity. Not exactly news but since she’s possibly best known as the warm-hearted and slightly naïve “Charlene Stillfield” on the iconic television sitcom Designing Women, it might bear repeating. Currently starring at Studio 54 in the riveting new play Call Me Izzy, Ms. Smart returns to Broadway as another southern belle, of sorts. However, her latest Dixie-fied creation, Isabelle, is no Charlene. While they share a similar accent and perhaps a few mannerisms, Isabelle and her life are no sitcom. She’s stuck in a dead- end marriage, in a dead-end town, in a dead-end trailer park with only her notable (and secret) writing talent as sole comfort.
Sensitively written by Jamie Wax in his Broadway debut and beautifully directed by Sarna Lapine, this Robert Ahrens and P3 Productions outing begins like some lazy Louisiana afternoon but ramps into a tense, heart-breaking, violent portrait of a woman trapped by her circumstances. Expertly navigating the winding terrain of this encompassing solo performance, Smart delivers a fully realized experience of desperation, frustration, survival, humor and hope. Embracing every aspect of Wax’s raw, revealing and often funny script, onstage Smart is not a Star. She is not Charlene. She is Isabelle. And watching Isabelle, or “Izzy” as she prefers to be called, come to life via the gifted Jean Smart is to be reminded of the power of great acting and great theater.
It’s 1989 and tucked away in a trailer park in Mansfield, Louisiana, middle-aged Isabelle writes on a roll of toilet paper while her husband is asleep in bed. Mostly poetry or journal entries, Isabelle has to hide her big talent in her small bathroom. Married at seventeen to a man she probably loved at the time, her life’s path did not allow her to develop her natural gift for writing. Yet she tries her best to be a good trailer-park wife; having been warned by her husband, more than once, to not think she’s better than him.
But Isabelle can’t stop thinking, as both her mind and spirit yearn for creative expression. When a friend in the neighborhood takes her to a local library for writing classes, Isabelle makes the potentially dangerous choice to join the course. Her husband knows but doesn’t seem to care. Nothing will come of it. But quite unexpectedly, something does come of it. Now thrown into a situation beyond her control, Isabelle is lost on what to do. How will she protect her writing? And her life?
Wax has Isabelle speak directly to the audience the entire show, with no explanation. It’s an interesting choice as Smart both narrates and experiences Izzy’s life in real time. She plays multiple characters, facilely jumping back and forth between personalities with sometimes chilling results. For instance, in one scene as dinner guests depart, Izzy’s husband affectionately nuzzles her neck from behind but that supposed affection is actually a threat. Smart describes the action, reacts to it, yet also tries to save face in front of her visitors. Smart’s work in creating the dynamics of that dinner is so good that when she involuntarily flinches at her husband’s touch, so do we. And this convention of telling the story while also being the story runs throughout the show, with Smart making this taxing performing assignment look easy.
While the tale of a sensitive woman subjugated by circumstances and struggling to break free is not new, Wax’s approach to presenting this unfortunate journey of too many women is unique. Strongly supported by Sarna’s very specific and compassionate direction, Wax lets the more troubling aspects of Izzy’s life sparingly drip as from a leaky faucet until, suddenly, there is a rush of water that is surprising in its force and volume. Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams’ gorgeous scenic design lends a touch of magical realism to the proceedings, including motorized set maskings and a stylized Louisiana landscape. This slight bending of Izzy’s reality creates a fuzzy boundary between story elements, helping Smart easily move within the narrative’s demands. And while the play deals in heavy subject matter, there are considerable laughs and lighter moments, including a show-stopping one-liner regarding Izzy’s writing teacher, Mr. Heckerling. But whether happy or sad, it works because of the depth of humanity that Smart consistently reveals onstage.
In the Call Me Izzy promo materials, Jean Smart is quoted as saying, “The stage was always my first love. I did it for years before I ever did anything on camera. It’s been way too long since I’ve done a play.” Yes, Ms. Smart, it has. Hope it won’t take as long for the next one.
top two photos by Marc J Franklin
bottom two by Emilio Madrid
Call Me Izzy
Studio 54, 254 W 54th St
ends on August 17, 2025
for tickets, visit Call Me Izzy
