|
Shakespeare’s strange story of cross dressing, impersonation, love and power
politics seems to tempt inventive directors to impose a strong concept to
help unify its elements and let its charms shine through. With Maria Aitken,
the Shakespeare Theatre Company certainly has an inventive director for
this, their third production of the play. Michael Kahn directed it first in
the 80s and guest director Laurence Boswell took a crack at it in the 90s.
Now, in the decade that begins with a zero (the zilches?) Aitken takes us
onto a sound stage in Hollywood to experience the play through a director's
viewfinder. It is a concept that offers some memorable moments but fails to
serve the overall story well. Aitken is known to American audiences
primarily for her success at putting an early Alfred Hitchcock movie, The
39 Steps, on stage with just a cast of 4 playing all parts and camping
it up, showing just how much fun they can have creating images and effects.
In this production, she again shines the spotlight brightest on her own
ingenuity with an evening filled with scenes that call attention to the
contribution of the director rather than to the strengths of the script.
The 39 Steps wasn’t that good of a movie to begin with, so playing fast
and loose with the material is completely acceptable. Doing the same thing
to what may well be the lightest of all of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies
turns out to be more problematic. She does add interest to the project,
however, by bringing in Michael John LaChiusa in to compose not only
incidental music, but four songs so that the Hollywood she's celebrating can
include the musicals of the 30s.
|
|
Storyline: Feuding brothers, young women
disguised as young men, faithful servants and court intrigue all come
together in the forest of Arden where a Duke has banished his predecessor.
One young man, in love with a young woman he believes is still back at the
court, pens love letters which he leaves on the trees of the forest. The
object of his love, however, has followed him to the forest disguised as a
boy. All ends happily when love overcomes adversity, confusion and hatred.
Aitken opens the
festivities (and festivities, they should be) with a black-and-white vision
of characters in garb that might be more appropriate for a period revival of
The Crucible. Things stay subdued for quite a while as her concept of
scenes as tributes to movie genres takes effect. With projections telling us
that we are in "New Amsterdam, 1628" and then "Valley Forge, 1775," there's
not a lot of color in this world for all too long to serve the colorful
story Shakespeare wrote. (Perhaps she refrained because Technicolor didn't
come in as a major element of popular movies until the late 1930s.)
Eventually, however, she's got Floyd King dressed first as W. C. Fields and
then as Groucho (complete with painted on oversized moustache) and things
begin to approach a colorful romp. Derek McLane accommodated the concept
with a series of set designs that also become increasingly colorful and
visually exciting as the evening progresses. At one point he manages to put
the wide open spaces of the wild west, as seen in Hollywood's big westerns, on the stage of the Sidney Harman Hall.
Romantic comedies rise and
fall on chemistry - the chemistry between the lovers at the center of the
story and the chemistry between the supporting players. Aitken is fortunate
to be the beneficiary of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's stock of
supporting players who establish that chemistry between themselves (and with
the audience) almost as a matter of motor memory. When you have Ted van
Griethuysen, Lawrence Redmond, James Konicek, Andrew Long, Floyd King and
Audrey Deeker on your stage, you know that sparks will pass between them to
the show's benefit. Aitken's casting choices for the lovers are less
fortunate. Fancesca Faridany never seems all that besotted by John Behlmann
and he rarely finds any of the giddy intoxication of infatuation that would
make the story the entertaining light comedy it can be.
LaChiusa is an interesting
choice for composing the score for this production. His varied output over
the years has covered so many types of theater music that he clearly has the
ability to craft a variety of incidental snippets that have the feel of a
variety of movie genres. After all, this is the composer/lyricist of
Hello Again,
The Wild Party,
See What I Wanna See
and Giant,
to name just a few. In addition to the snippets, LaChiusa
contributed four songs, ranging from a song for James Konicek's distinctive
bass voice set to the text of the "Under the Greenwood Tree" speech, to the
finale in a Hollywood musical extravaganza mode. LaChiusa is not known
for songs that have their greatest impact on first hearing. Indeed, most of
his output grows on a listener over time. With a single exposure to these
four songs, they don't sink in as much as might have been the case for songs
written in a more accessible, perhaps more repetitiously melodic style. Too
bad you can't pick up a cd of the score in the lobby as you leave - it would
make an interesting collection to get to know.
Written by William
Shakespeare. Directed by Maria Aitken. Dance choreography by Daniel Pelzig,
Fight choreography by Brad Waller. Original music and songs composed by
Michael John LaChiusa. Music direction by Barbara Irvine. Design: Derek
McLane (set) Jeff Sugg (projections) Martin Pakledinaz (costumes) Japhy
Weideman (lights) Martin Desjardins (sound) Scott Suchman (photography) M.
William Shiner (stage manager). Cast: John Behlmann, Anjaili Bhimani,
Meredith Burns, Mark Capri, Barnaby Carpenter, Elliot Dash, Audrey Deeker,
McKennah Edmunds, Francesca Faridany, Julia Ferrara, Beth Glover, Floyd
King, James Konicek, Catherine LeFrere, Andrew Long, Sarah Mollo-Christensen,
Charlie Francis Murphy, Adam Navarro, Todd Quick, Lawrence Redmond, David
Joseph Regelmann, Jon K. Reynolds, Todd Scofield, Miriam Silverman, Raphael
Nash Thompson, Patrick Vaill, Ted van Griethuysen. |
