Happy Days: No, not that one...

Courtesy Open Eye Figure Theatre.

A couple of years back, one of the Twin Cities theaters announced a production of a musical version of Happy Days. My heart cheered for a few moments, until I read on and realized it was the Fonz and company version of Happy Days, not some music-loaded rendition of Samuel Beckett's play.

No matter. Beckett's odd creation about a woman buried up to her waist in rocks -- and not feeling too bad about herself -- offers tremendous rewards even without a song or two, as the new production at Open Eye Figure Theatre proves.

Under the watchful direction of Michael Evan Haney, Amy Warner (also Haney's wife) stars as Winnie, the woman so long trapped by her circumstances that life has been reduced to the most mundane of routines. She greets each day's morning bell with a smile, and then fills the time with incessant chatter about the contents of her bag, her tattered memories of a long-ago normal life, and the way she fills up the endless hours of each endless day in her trapped state.

She isn't alone. Her husband Willie (a shirtless Michael Sommers) pops up from behind the rocks from time to time, reading an ancient newspaper and making the occasional comment.

As difficult as Winnie's state is in act one, it gets worse in act two. Her limited mobility is cut even further, leaving her almost entirely alone with her words and thoughts.

When I saw earlier productions of Happy Days, I relished in the sheer absurdity of the script and the action. Now that I'm older, I know more about Winnie's state of mind. The endless chatter, the forgotten names and terms, the sense that you are frozen in place while everyone else moves freely about you is a perfect description of middle age.

The show is also an extreme acting exercise. It's one that Warner takes up quite well. The happy facade of the first scenes eventually melts away into the final moments of desperation. Some of the moments in between are a bit wobbly. It seemed that the tone at the top of act two was pushed too hard. A softer touch there would have made the final moments all the more effective.

Sommers -- who also provides the simple but effective set design -- makes the most of his brief moments on stage. He is able to wring out the humor of the most simple gesture or action. He also looks great in act two, when Willie finally gets to be in front of the rocks -- and appears in full evening dress, like the demented cousin of Vladimir and Estragon.

Happy Days plays through March 19 at Open Eye Figure Theatre.