CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Left to Right Robertson Dean, Michael A. Newcomer, Holly Hawkins
Photo by Craig Schwartz

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

A Noise Within touts itself as dedicated to the ‘Classics.’ With this, the second production in their burgeoning season, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Colombus’s adaptation of Doestoyevsky’s big old novel is a little like Cliff’s Notes, especially to those who have actually read the whole thing. Not having read the Russians, I was interested to see how the Theatre would, with three actors, present the Russian classic. Michael C. Smith’s ominous set featuring steep rickety wooden steps promises what the protean efforts of Michael A. Newcomer (Raskolnikov) and Robertson Dean and Holly Hawkins as an interesting supporting cast deliver.

Porfiry (Robertson Dean) is a detective investigating the death of Alyona (Holly Hawkins) a pawnbroker who has been murdered. Effective flashbacks and dream sequences reveal Dostoevsky’s philosophy regarding the ordinary person / personality vis a vis the extraordinary. Over time, the issue of who may be above the law and who must pay has been discussed in many ways. In the 1500's the pope who had commissioned Cellini to make artworks basically stated that Cellini was such a genius that he was above the law. Who is more valuable? Who may get away with murder?

Raskolnikov, is a student of philosophy and in his investigation of good and evil and his guilt or innocence in the murder is the point around which the story turns. However obtuse the argument of the play, the performances are executed with A NoiseWithin’s well known care. Hawkins and Dean portray a panoply of characters with precision. It’s a primer in classical performance. Christina Haatainen-Jones’ costumes are perfect. James P. Taylor’s lights serve. A gushing glitch of blood allowing Porfiry to track it about the stage needs adjustment after flooding the front row of the audience opening night with a bit more grande guingol than expected.

Over all, this production is an attempt to condense a huge literary effort to an adult stage presentation. Whether it works or not is less important than the effort. Only a purist who has actually read Doestoyevsky may know for sure. I found myself checking out from time to time as the plot unfolded. Even with excellent performances and acceptance of the device of two actors playing multiple parts effectively, it’s still an epic reduced to the bare bones.

So? For the good of all mankind, is the death of one small life so much to give? Does the presentation of an epic novel condensed to its essence make a difference? For students of acting and well tuned theatre, this is an evening worth the effort. A purist may take issue with a condensation, but the curious and the aficionado of creative theatre should take a look.

Crime and Punishment
A Noise Within
In Repertory through December 17, 2009
818 240 0910 x1
www.ANoiseWithin.org

FESTEN

The Cast of Festen
Photo by Keith Ian Polakoff



FESTEN
By David Eldridge


FESTEN as mounted by The California Repertory Theatre Company almost makes Albee’s “…Virginia Woolf” look like a walk in the park. Director Joanne Gordon’s staging on a minimalist set by Danila Korogodsky in the Queen Mary’s Royal Theatre is concise, precise and incisive. The cast is professional and spot on.. even if a bit too much from time to time. It seems that blowing the roof off the theater may be the director’s intention.

As the audience enters the theatre, Sarah Underwood, is seated under a dim spotlight wailing some amazing saxophone riffs, setting the mood for the play. She wears many hats. As musical director she has composed the music for the entire production, as well as “narrating” the play musically. She also doubles as the cook. Her intensity and excellent chops on the sax are overwhelmed momentarily by the entrance of Michael (over the top Josh Nathan) who literally launches himself onto the stage spewing epithets that strike genuine fear into his young daughter (Quinley Lazor). Wife Mette (Deborah Lazor) is cowed but stands her ground.

The play progresses to celebrate (Festen: Celebration) the 60th Birthday of Helge (Jeff Paul), a very well to do hotelier: sire to Michael and his siblings, Christian (David Vegh) and Helene (Anna Steers) who bring surprises of their own to the party. To use the term dysfunctional to describe the action of these characters may be to do them a disservice. Angst, abuse and real anger abound, building from one accusation to another is a masterwork of writing. Characters writhe in their own juices and the party, even featuring a brutal game of musical chairs revealing prejudice and sexual malfunction from beginning to end. It’s almost too much to bear, but as a character study and acting opportunity for this well tuned cast, it’s worth the investment of time and the bitter reward of observing the elephant in the room with no one, finally, at the curtain, really caring what terrible things have transpired.

Brilliant staging of three separate hotel rooms using two huge banquet tables helped define the idiosyncrasies of each of the siblings. Billowing sheets and unabashed sex, almost incestuous, flowed like honey. Notable performances include .. again, Sarah Underwood’s Kim, sans sax, Jocelyn Hall’s Pia, The Doughty Grandfather, Kenneth Rugg.

Sometimes art is not pretty. Festen, certainly, is not. To even call it marginally enjoyable would be a stretch, however, Joanne Gordon’s director’s hand is a firm one. She brings these actors to a professional pinnacle and allows them, to a person, to succeed. It’s a triumph in any theatre company. It is especially impressive at the university level. This is not a pretty play, but one that adult audiences will certainly find merit in.

FESTEN
The Royal Theatre
At The Queen Mary
1126 Queens Highway
Long Beach, California
Through October 17th 2009
(562) 985 5526

RICHARD III

Steve Weingartner (Richard III) and Deborah Strang (Queen Margaret)
Photo by Craig Schwartz


Richard III at A Noise Within

The City of Glendale is about to lose a valuable treasure. To say that A Noise Within, the Classic Theatre Company is a treasure is surely to miss the mark, but under the circumstances this shining jewel must somehow be easily defined and so… A treasure. For more than twenty years A Noise Within has brought important American Theatre to its stage along with the best of Shakespeare and other classic theatre pieces. Currently, there is a fund raising effort afoot to move the company from its long time home at Colorado and Brand to the hinterlands of Pasadena. The proposed space is, indeed, ambitious and beautiful .. as a professional theatre company deserves. It just seems to me that to lose this vital connection to the arts while at the same time promoting and enabling a disgrace such as the Americana right across the street is not only short sighted, it’s just plain stupid. Had the developer of that eyesore understood the importance of culture in society, he might have found a way to fund a space not unlike the one that A Noise Within may soon repair to. He may have attracted the culturally aware who would patronize the rest of the glitz there in spite of its questionable taste. But.. alas.. alas.. This glorious company will soon be gone and all of Glendale will be the lesser for it.

Not only has the City abandoned culture to venues like the Americana, but they have also done doubly bad service to Glendale citizens and the Theatre by adjusting parking so that it is nearly impossible to park on the streets near by to attend. These new computerized meters which litter Brand compel theatre patrons to find other parking because an evening in the theatre may extend beyond the allowed parking limits. It is, simply, a shame and a crime.

And, so.. to attend this excellent production of the current A Noise Within’s offering of Shakespeare’s Richard III, one has to be lucky to find parking and hope that there won’t be a ticket on the windshield when exiting the theatre.

Classic Theatre is steadfastly being kept alive by the continued excellence of the company at Brand and Colorado. Director Geoff Elliott’s staging of the Tragedy is, at once, historical and current. The intrigues of Richard, the master villain, (Steve Weingartner in a compelling turn) are, at bottom, pure evil. Richard is driven to conive his way to the throne of England and only has to murder half the cast to get there. His efforts succeed briefly, but he then, falls victim to the intrigues of others. Deborah Strang as Queen Margaret sets the bar for histrionics and matches Richard’s rants beat for beat.

To truly enjoy a play like this one, it serves us to check the text or at least the plot before sitting in the audience. The language is not quite so familiar as some of the Bard’s other efforts, but simply allowing the action to unfold as it does in this production is like listening to a concert. To a person, the cast performs Shakespeare’s words with ease, never lapsing into contrived English accents, but allowing (as Hamlet advised) the speeches to flow trippingly on the tongue.

Elliott’s excellent use of space over seen by Darcy Scanlin’s looming monoliths combine with Ken Booth’s lighting to move the play apace.

Though the costuming is slightly askew, the dedication of the company to the words is quite well met and deserves an audience.

Through December 12th, plays in repertory with Crime and Punishment and Noises Off. Check www.anoisewithin.org for openings and schedules.

A Noise Within
234 S. Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91204
818 240 0910 x1

A R T

ART: Yasmina Reza’s brilliant Tony winning exploration of friendship and the delicate dance we do to keep things on an even keel shines on the stage at East West Players through October 10th. This play is so much fun, I must simply say that if you don’t see anything else this year that you must get down to Little Tokyo before it closes!

Serge (Francois Chau, best recognized as the enigmatic leader of the Dharma Initiative on ABC’s LOST) is a dermatologist and has, after much consideration, purchased an Antrios. It's about 4 x 5 feet. White, with (so he says) shades of other colors subtly enmeshed within the painting. It is contemporary ART. In this rendition, East West has chosen the original text which uses French francs as the monetary standard. 200,000 francs (about $40,000) is what Serge reports he’s paid for this masterpiece. The term masterpiece comes into contention as the story evolves.

Marc (a well tuned performance by Bernard White) is an engineer. He is a classicist. He sees things as people whose lives turn on precise numbers must, in black and white. His will is supreme and his ego exceeds his ability to compromise. In a brief visit to his apartment in Alan Muroka’s brilliantly executed off white set, we see Marc’s taste in art. On a periaktoi wall which turns to reveal each friend’s apartment, we see a representation of a window out of which a perfectly rendered landscape is revealed. Things are all as they seem. Direct and crisp and, above all, representational. Marc derides Serge for his foolish purchase of “shit.”

The third corner of this man-love triangle is Yvan. Unlike his pals, Yvan, is not well to do. In fact, after a marginal career in fabrics, he finds himself selling wholesale paper goods and stationary. This is a job, not a career and for this, Yvan is indebted to his fiance’s uncle who runs the paper company. A perfect foil “Yvan, the joker” (perfectly limned by Ryun Yu whose timing and dedication to this part are worth the price of admission alone) Yvan segues his loyalty and his ethic back and forth between Serge’s enthusiastic glee as the owner of his new painting and Marc’s cynical outlook, not only on the artwork, but on life itself. Yvan’s extraordinary monologue about his upcoming wedding and issues with his mother and his wife-to-be stops the show.

What has drawn these three together is never revealed. Three more divergent personalities one would have a hard time imagining. The gift is that Reza’s brilliant text and Alberto Isaac’s focussed and perfectly timed direction come together in an almost musical romp of art and ethics and the revelation of true feelings in these three exquisitely drawn characters. .. and, one minimalist piece of contemporary art.

Alan E. Muraoka’s set we think is white until the introduction of the Antrios. Seeing his essentially minimalist set sculpted with Jeremy Pivnik’s lighting: both subtle and bold (changing from interaction between the characters to fourth wall deconstruction moments for each character) bring to center what theatre is really about. This is a collaboration of playwright, director, actors, staff.. all… a team of professionals working together toward one common goal. The actors, buoyed by Reza’s text, shine in the perfect set, illuminated with lighting that is at once brilliant and so natural that it never really calls attention to itself. This is an ensemble production assembled on the matrix of contemporary literature that should stay on the stage for years to come. Even a marginal reading of this play would still be enjoyable, but Mr. Isaac and the crew at East West Players have brought it to a pinnacle, for which they deserve an audience.

It’s just wonderful.

Through October 10, 2009
East West Players
120 Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213 625 7000
www.eastwestplayers.org/

THE NIGHT IS A CHILD

Pictured: Jo-Beth Williams and Sybyl Walker. Photo by Craig Schwartz (Errata)

This image won't stay up. Apologies to the Pasadena Playhouse.

Charles Randolph-Wright’s The Night is a Child, on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse through October 4th is a complicated mélange of ideas, buoyed up by beautifully executed scenic design. Yael Pardess’s scrims and Jason H. Thompson’s projections sweep us away to Brazil one moment and back to the chilly winds of Massachusetts the next. The device works, but at the expense of almost overshadowing the essence of the play.

Harriet Easton (JoBeth Williams), middle aged mother of three adult children, has lost her son, Michael. The details of his death remain vague. Harriet’s other two children, alcoholic Brian (Tyler Pierce who doubles as his brother Michael) and daughter Jane (Monette Magrath), are distressed to receive an email from their mother announcing that she’ll be out of touch, but, not to worry, which, of course, puts them in a tizzy; desperate to find her because of her delicate condition. It has only been a year since Michael’s death.

The circumstances of Michael’s death come to light as Harriet explores the glory of Ipanema. Befriended by Bia, the very spirit of Brazil and Samba (an exquisite Sybyl Walker), she is directed to a hotel where she is well received by the owner, Joel (Maceo Oliver.) Mysteriously, Michael appears to tutor Harriet with her Portuguese. She comes to believe that the local practice of Santeria may have something to do with her visions and entreats Bia to guide her to a ‘real’ Santeria ceremony to reconnect with her son. Bia’s inability to enter the Santeria church foreshadows events to come.

Epps guides his actors with precision. Each delivers an excellent turn. Armando Mcclain as Henrique (along with incidental characters), adds welcome grace notes. The play itself remains somewhat of a mystery. We do find empathy and even sympathy for the individual characters. The idea of ‘letting go’ ultimately becomes the issue for each of them and is revealed to some satisfaction by the final curtain. The text itself holds little depth except as a vehicle for some interesting explorations into how we deal with unimaginable and excruciating challenges in life. This sounds like a contradiction. The problem I found was caring enough about the characters and the basic argument of the play to appreciate the revelations that come to each of them as they experience what Randolph-Wright has brought them through.

The final tableaux is beautiful and spectacular.

In the annex gallery, the Playhouse has installed artwork reflective of Voo Doo. Worth a look when you venture out to see the show.

Pasadena Playhouse
39 S. El Molino
Pasadena
www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

Mirror Mirror

In Hamlet's advice to the players the Dane directs that they must "...hold, as 'twere, a mirror up to nature, show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image..." Commentary on art, hopefully, reflects upon and expands our understanding. As seen through the experience of others, commentary becomes a mirror which may guide us; even expand our experience. The purpose of these entries is to offer an opinion about theatrical productions in Los Angeles. These observations are mine alone. Over the past twenty years, having written for Drama-Logue, Daily Variety and other publications, these entires become my contribution to the theatre scene in L.A.

Comments are welcome.

Michael Sheehan