“Can we talk?” Joan Rivers’ stand-up tagline had a way of turning audiences into confidants. Rivers may be remembered for her relentless jokes about Elizabeth Taylor’s weight, but she herself was her most relentless target. Making fun of her looks, her sex life, her miserable childhood earned her not only the adoration of fans but also their trust.
She was the candid cutup they’d like to have on speed-dial. Making a play about the life and career of Rivers , who died suddenly in 2014 while undergoing a medical procedure, is challenging not because her story wasn’t dramatic but because there was no one like her. How do you bring her audacious wit, rampaging delivery and path-breaking fearlessness back to life? “Joan,” a new play by Daniel Goldstein directed by David Ivers at South Coast Repertory, gives it a shot by divvying up the central role between two actors.
Elinor Gunn portrays young Joan while Tessa Auberjonois plays the beloved comic. The more famous version of the character, as you might imagine, is harder to get right. Auberjonois gives a rough approximation of Rivers’ New York accent but can’t master her comic timing.
(Who could?) The jokes Joan tells are funny because they’re so outrageous — not because of how they’re told. The performance sticks to the persona. Joan’s expensive clothes and tight face lend the impression of a Bel-Air battleship.
Auberjonois captures the breathless ambition along with the insecurity that fueled Rivers’.