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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. --Shakespeare is one hot property right now and, frankly, his work has always been popular in the Washington D.C. area. However, the Folger Shakespeare Library strays slightly from the work of the Bard to the actors and professionals who bring his work to life. Ronald Harwood's The Dresser is at once a recognition of the importance of Shakespeare's work to the British and a tribute to the men and women who ensured that his legacy lived on even during Britains darkest hours. The Dresser is the story of life in the theatre and, as such, appeals to anyone who has an affinity for theatrical productions. It also shows the indomitable British spirit in the fact of Nazi aggression designed to drive the English people and their government into the dirt. The plot of The Dresser is very simple on its surface —Sir (Ted van Griethuysen) is an aging star who tours the provinces of Britain bringing Shakespeare to the masses, even as the Luftwaffe showers bombs on the people. Sir is not a perfect character and not a pillar of strength to be sure. He waffles between a fiery and defiant actor, determined that the show must go on despite the barbarians at the door, and a cowering, demented and crumbling old man who is almost as frightened by the war as he is by the changes he sees in himself. Sir suffers a breakdown shortly before a performance as King Lear and his longtime mistress, Her Ladyship (Catherine Flye), and his stage manager, Madge (Cam Magee), want him to cancel the show, something which is totally contrary to Sir's nature. Seemingly the only one who understands this is Norman (Floyd King) who is ostensibly his dresser but who serves as much as a counselor, sounding board, protector and servant with a love/hate relationship. Norman, who has served Sir for 16 years, nurses his charge through one more performance while dealing with all the insecurities and inadequacies Sire feels. As a former dresser himself, playwright Harwood effectively outlines the frustrations and injustices Norman suffers as he toils in his work. King effectively takes that frustration and displays it so it is apparent to both the audience and to Sir, himself. Part of what makes The Dresser so effective is that the director knows when subtlety is appropriate and when he needs to be blatant with the gestures, glances and unspoken truths which tell much of the story.
As the Dresser, King (above, on left) manages to walk a fine line between giving into the madness himself and supplying Sir with the strength he needs to bring Shakespeare to life on the stage. The supporting cast is also extraordinary, especially Flye as Her Ladyship who tries to ward off the truth of Sir's dementia in her own mind and moves through the play in a sad funk over her lot in life. John Emmeret's Mr. Oxenby is a perfect pain in everyone's ass and Albert Coia has some nice moments playing Lear's fool. In small roles, Sarah J. Wiggins (an aspiring starlet) and Magee Madge bring further depth to the ensemble. Joseph B. Musumeci Jr. has constructed a simple set which is very effective and easily transformed for different scenes. Scott Burgess fills the theatre with the sound of air raid sirens and falling bombs which invoke real fear in the performers, especially Sir. Elizabeth Baldwin's props are effective throughout the play and never detract from the action while the costumes, designed by Mary Ann Powell are appropriate to the Shakespearian period and yet tattered enough to make it believable that they, like the performers, have suffered through a war. Harwood's play was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 1980 with Freddie Jones and Tom Courtenay. Adapted for film in 1984, starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay, the motion picture won five Academy Awards including a Best Screenplay Oscar for Harwood. The Dresser is an extraordinary play and a thought-provoking examination of the human spirit during a difficult time. It demonstrates a time of great unity among the English as both the audience and the theatre company have to overcome adverse conditions in order to experience their beloved Shakespeare. As you view the play, you find yourself moving quickly between a variety of emotions along with the characters. Anchored by van Griethuysen and King, The Dresser is an extraordinary work and well worth a visit. THE PLAY UNDRESSED -- Four of the principle players will be vying for 1999 Helen Hayes Awards on May 3rd for their role in productions last year. Ted van Griethuysen is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Resident Play for his performance in The Steward of Christendom. Floyd King is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Resident Musical for his one-man-show Mad About The Bard. Catherine Flye is a nominee for Outstanding Director of a Resident Musical for Great Expectations. And Cam Magee who was in the Folger's Much Ado About Nothing and is nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Production.
The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi WASHINGTON, D.C. --The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi, which is currently running at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, opens with a stylized film noir murder as a man in ornate officer's clothing is shot by three sinister figures in fedoras and trench coats. After this, Friedrich Duerrenmatt's play continues on the trail of the bizarre as the murdered man comes back to life to tell the audience how these events came to pass. Like his equally absurd play The Visit, The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi is surreal, cynical and a little spooky. For example, in the second scene, a fanatically pious public prosecutor, Florestan Mississippi (Timmy Ray James), uncovers the guilt of the murderer, Anastasia (Kerry Waters), and then proceeds to propose marriage to her. That's when things begin to get weird. Mississippi has a mysterious past which connects him with the equally fanatical communist insurgent Frederic Rene Sainte-Claude (Kryztov Lindquist.) Saint-Claud has a secret relationship with Anastasia as do the opportunistic minister of justice, Diego (Ben Hulan) and the hapless, softhearted liberal Count Bodo von Ubelohe-Zabernsee (Bruce Nelson). These representatives of right-wing moralism, left-wing zealotry, political pragmatism and do-gooder liberalism scheme against one another for victory in both love and politics. Suffice it to say that none of them have much luck in any of the aforementioned areas. Tom Prewitt's direction is at times fun and often disturbing. The main characters stagger around like lunatics playing a hellish, never-ending game of one-upmanship. In all the action, whatever message Duerrenmatt tries to deliver is lost on me. MARRIAGE ANNOUNCEMENTS:The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi is currently running at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 1401 Church Street, NW, Washington through April 18.Tickets are $15-$28 and can be purchased by calling ProTix at (703) 218-6500 2xPoe WASHINGTON, D.C. --A pair of short plays based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe and produced by Fraudulent Productions is in residence at the DC Arts Center. Oddly enough, 2xPoe, as the show at the Arts Center is called, serves up an evening of Grand Guignol, that grotesque fantasia of murder, rape, gore and revenge popularized in turn-of-the-century Parisian theatre. And what better source for such stuff than the man who wrote about premature burials and hearts which continued to beat after death? The two plays which compose 2xPoe include The Case of M. Valdemar and The System of Dr. Tar. This presentation of Poe is halfway successful. The piece that does not work, The Case of M. Valdemar, is first on the bill and is, fortunately, short. A doctor (Rachel E. Reed) tries to cheat death by hypnotizing a dying man, Valdemar (John Brady), to see if a trance can keep him alive. Valdemar actually dies while in the trance, but his suspended mental state indeed prevents his spirit from expiring. Valdemar's spirit starts begging to be allowed to die with the body, but the now-obsessed doctor refuses. At this point John Spitzer, who adapted the stories, tacks on a moralizing ending. Unlike Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, which Fraudulent Productions brought to us last season, The Case of M. Valdemar lacks any mysterious or enigmatic subtext about what's happening to the characters. Poe's writing always makes for compelling reading but on the stage, much of the passion is lost. There is little depth to the conflict and director Dania A. Palanker doesn't create any. The second piece, The System of Dr. Tar is everything M. Valdemar isn't dramatic, multilayered, excessive and mean. Whether you take the work as allegory or at face value, it locks up your interest either way, despite the fact that the cynical and hilarious plot is quickly realized. A curious man (Ron Woods) visits an insane asylum to see what it's like. He's greeted by Dr. Mallard (Hugh Walthall), the physician in charge. Soon the visitor meets a number of the doctor's "friends" who laughingly describe some of the patients there like the man who thinks he is a piece of cheese, the woman who thinks she is a rooster and another who believes he's a frog. Suffice it to say that their mimicking of these people seems far too authentic. Screams and blood punctuate the proceedings. But the real fun begins with the onset of a storm. Enter the cheese, the teapot, the frog and the rest, followed by some people who've been tarred and feathered and then by some poor slob whose throat has been cut. Planker and her cast go to town with it all as they should. She maintains a marvelously deadpan tone throughout the show and she get some great performances, particularly from Michole Biancosino, Sharon Neubauer and, in a brief appearance, Reed. But Walthall's Mallard is clearly the (perverted) star, a man standing on the edge of sanity and enjoying the view. 2xPoe is adapted by John Spitzer from stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Directed by Dania A. Palanker; costumes by Mandie Zeil. 2xPoe runs through April 24 at the D.C. Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC (202) 462-7833. The D.C. Arts Center is everything you want in an avant-garde theater. Located in one of the coolest sections of town, Adams-Morgan, it's hard to find because the inconspicuous entrance to the second-floor space is on a busy block filled with galleries, boutiques, bookstores and cafes. And to reach the theater itself, you have to pass through an art gallery filled with "out-there" work certain to turn your head. The 50-seat black-box theater is an intimate, semi-spooky space where the audience feels as if it is —and sometimes is —part of the action. One of the resident companies, Fraudulent Productions, is an avant-experimental theater whose typical "show" is less a play than an experience. There might be a text, but the text is swept up in a vortex of mime, dance, light, sounds, multimedia images and original music. The Theatre Conspiracy, Cherry Red and other local troupes also mount productions here. Ongoing events include "Performance Improv Jam," "In Your Ear Avant-Garde Poetry" and DC Playback Theater re-enactments of community and personal histories. Beer and soda are the only refreshments sold, but you can drink them in the theater. AT AREA THEATRES: To see a partial listing of shows in and
around
Washington D.C. in the coming weeks, please visit The
Capital
Calendar .
Also see this year's nominees for the 15th Annual Helen Hayes Awards.
-- Tony Swanick |
Van Griethuysen (on right) is
marvelous on stage as
he goes back and forth between incredible dignity and strength of
character to humiliating
weakness. One moment he is raging at the unseen Nazis bombing his
beloved England and the
next he is cowering and weeping in a heap on the floor. In many ways,
Sir is not unlike the
character of King Lear he portrays in that his heart is full of
conflicting emotions.
The Dresser continues at