Mona Acts Out

Starred review from November 1, 2024
A celebrated Shakespearean actress spends Thanksgiving rather differently than expected. Berlinski follows acclaimed novels set in Thailand (Fieldwork, 2007) and Haiti (Peacekeeping, 2016) with a New York-based comedy of manners and morals featuring a brilliantly imagined female protagonist, Mona Zahid, one of the stars of a Shakespearean theater troupe based in the East Village. Until recently, the company was led by legendary director Milton Katz, but an article in theNew York Times, filled with accusations of misconduct from a slew of actresses, led to his disgrace. Mona, herself "an out-and-out, unabashed Miltophile," was not among the accusers. We meet her as she awakens in her Morningside Heights apartment on Thanksgiving Day to a full house--in addition to her surgeon husband, teenage son, and canine companion Barney, her in-laws and her college student niece, Rachel, are milling about. Absent is Rachel's mother--Mona's sister, Zahra--who died less than a year earlier, leaving Mona a stash of 150 pain pills of which there are now only six. Mona starts her day by taking two. Not long after, she hears the assembled family members begin to argue about Milton Katz and Donald Trump. She knows she should go out and save the day, but by then she has vaped some weed so strong she suspects it of being laced with "hallucinogenic toad drippings" and can only bring herself to put Barney on his leash and race out the front door, claiming she's off to buy parsley. At this point the novel takes an amazing left turn; suffice to say, Mona will not be home for dinner. Readers who know their Shakespeare will thrill to Berlinski's brilliant distillation of the power and relevance of the plays and characters, but those who don't will find they can easily come along for the ride. And a great ride it is. Wonderfully constructed, witty, warm, wise, and filled with an extraordinary sense of the relation between theater and life.

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Starred review from October 28, 2024
In the sharp-witted and weighty latest from Berlinski (Fieldwork), #MeToo allegations roil an off-off-Broadway Shakespeare company, prompting a 50-something actor to reevaluate her life. Mona Zahid is already grappling with the difficult new role of Cleopatra and what it says about her career; after playing everyone from Juliet to Lady Macbeth, being cast as the Egyptian queen means she’s just about aged out of Shakespeare’s heroines. Mona’s also dreading hosting Thanksgiving dinner, especially after the death of her younger sister, Zahra, whose daughter, Rachel, will be in attendance. Recently, Mona learned that Rachel, following an internship at the theater company, was one of the women who accused its octogenarian founder, Milton, of sexual misconduct. On Thanksgiving Day, Mona escapes her cramped Upper West Side apartment for a last-minute grocery run, during which she frets over a recent postcard message from Milton, in which he claimed to be dying. She decides to make a detour to Brooklyn to see him, and on the way, she burrows deep into memories of her younger years as a player in Milton’s company, when scoring an audition at his dingy Avenue C squat was akin to “winning one of Willie Wonka’s Golden Tickets.” Mona’s thoughts are laced with scathing humor and piercing insight into the actor’s craft, resulting in a surprisingly moving exploration of the courage required to play life’s many roles. Berlinski deserves a standing ovation for this bravura performance. Agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House.

December 1, 2024
The recent loss of her sister and a mostly plodding marriage are bad enough, but Mona Zahid is also crushed by a case of impostor syndrome. A theater actor who could once breeze through the most challenging Shakespeare roles with ease, she now worries about an upcoming project--a starring role as Cleopatra. Mona is especially anxious because her erstwhile mentor, Milton Katz, has seen the sun set on his own career after a string of abuse allegations from actresses. It all comes to a head on Thanksgiving Day, when Mona simply leaves home. When she finds a note from Milton in her mailbox saying, "I'm dying," a routine errand morphs into a very different mission. By the time Mona eventually returns, she sees her past through fresh eyes. Berlinski (Peacekeeping, 2016) keeps the tone breezy and thickly layers the Shakespearean motifs, which will delight fans of the Bard and likely stymie others. As for Mona, she recognizes that all the world's a stage and that she, too, is a player. Such a realization is its own kind of redemption.

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