In Restoration, Giulia (played by Ms. Shear), a Brooklyn-based art conservator, is selected to restore Michelangelo’s masterpiece, David, in Florence. The statute is the axis of the play, both visually (a large impressively created prop is at the center of the stage through most of the play) and dramatically. The characters, especially Giulia, revolve around this lifeless, but beautiful work of art as if it were alive. David is Giulia’s object of obsession. The restoration consumes her days and nights, but is also a crutch with which she combats the loneliness she feels as single aging woman. Through the course of the play, the security guard, Max who becomes a confidante, emphasizes that her life and happiness are more important than stone, however beautiful. By the end of the play, she learns to laugh a little and celebrates the coming of the new year, something she hasn’t done in ages.
The theme of single women traveling and ‘finding' themselves is not original. A number of movies and books (such as Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert) published recently follow this theme. However, the play is witty and entertaining, and at no point did I feel like the play was like something I’ve seen or read before.
Shear delves into the personal lives of the other characters, especially Max (who is lonely despite being married), Professor Mandel (who has cancer), and Daphne (whose mother dies). As the play nears it’s end, their lives get intertwined further and they learn to support each other emotionally, despite their minor differences. Restoration is therefore about the restoration of the human spirit and love of life. David may be the axis, but his restoration is incidental.
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