The UCSD Baldwin New Play Festival started off with an incredibly Big Bang.
The aptly named Mat Smart has written a spectacular piece of theater called The Hopper Collection. Somewhat in the vein of books such as Girl with a Pearl Earring and Girl in Hyacinth Blue, this is, in part, the imagined backstory behind Edward Hopper's provocative painting, "Summer Evening." But it's so much more than that. It's a little bit Virginia Woolf, in the vicious games played by an older couple before, during, and after the visit of a younger couple. It's about the effect of art, the damaging delusions of life, the price paid for love -- and its healing power, too.

Daniel and Marjorie are fabulously wealthy, and their art collection is breathtaking. Her favorite piece is the Hopper. He's never even looked at it. He loves her. She detests him (and tries to push a cyanide Coke on him). She'll swallow any manner of chemical support to get or keep herself "together." She's regal, imperial; he's a former boxer, "a brute." And she brutalizes him because he doesn't live up to her 'standard,' one set many years before and (nearly) impossible to equal or exceed.

Into their lives -- apparently, the first visitors they've had in years -- come Edward and "Sarah." He's got brain cancer; she's an aspiring artist. They were drawn together and to this house because of the Hopper. It's all about the power of art -- to move, change, destroy and/or repair lives.

The writing is spectacular. Smart has a wonderful ear for dialogue and a heart for humanity. He's funny and wise. His characters are complex and fascinating. And they're magnificently inhabited by a stellar cast: Lisa Velten is regal, imperious, and certifiably (but engagingly) nuts as Marjorie. Brian Slaten is sadly addicted to her and will do anything to make her love him. It's a powerful, pitiful, and touching performance. Mark E. Smith poignantly balances the loopiness of Edward's hangdog lovesickness and his serious illness. And then there's Christine Albright, who's already graduated but is back (along with a few other alums) to contribute to this year's Festival. She has a luminescence onstage that's hard to describe but impossible to ignore. She radiates; it must be "star quality" (I wish her well and have high hopes for her in her move to New York).

Astonishingly, the piece was directed by a first-year MFA student, Joseph Ward. Of course, none of the MFA students at UCSD are real novices; Ward has credits at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, among others. Here, he does a masterful job teasing outstanding performances from his cast, making every move count and keeping the tone right and light, highlighting the humor while underscoring the dark undertones.

The scenic design, by first-year designer Kim Ehler, is also impeccable: an open-work 3-sided room sporting blank "canvases" of different sizes. It's modern, airy, suggestive, excellently enhanced by the lighting design of second-year student designer Shirley Halahmy. The costumes of Elsi Thompson (first-year) are wonderful, especially for the women. Perhaps intentionally, Daniel's clothes reflected his blue-collar past more than his present wealth. A bit jarring, just as at one -- and only one -- point, he has a lapse of self-improved speech, saying "Feels good, don't it?" It's unnerving, in this generally well-spoken company, but presumably, Smart is exposing Dan's true colors -- which he does incisively with each of the characters.

Overall, this was a thoroughly, completely satisfying evening of theater. The play was deliciously unpredictable. Every time I thought I knew where it was going, it took a hairpin turn. What a triumphant piece of work. Bravo to all involved!