The Keegan Theatre is presenting a moving and sensitive production of composer William Finn’s Elegies: A Song Cycle. This is a work of disarming autobiographical elements that underscore Finn’s alternately quirky and elegiac lyrics. Finn’s music is shot through with a sense of longing and pain abetted with a sense of holding on to whatever one can grasp at in times of despair and loss.
Under the expert direction of Christina A. Coakley, the production unfolds beautifully with each song performed by a talented ensemble of singers with acting chops to spare. Ms. Coakley keeps the focus on the themes of the songs which highlight loss and acceptance of grief in all its various permutations and gradations.
Luckily, several of the songs in the cycle are enlivened with the loving and caring but, alternately, audaciously observant ear and eye that Mr. Finn employs for studying the human condition.
There are so many emotions to process in this richly rewarding work that you may want to see it for a second time. This production stresses that grief is a part of life and life goes on — we can remember those who we have lost in each moment of our lives. The “elegies” that are sung in this song cycle are relevant to anyone who wants to find a way through their pain in the stress-filled and turmoil-laden world we live in. Do not miss the Keegan Theatre’s superb production of Elegies: A Song Cycle.
