Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: San Francisco

The Bat
Novato Theater Company

Also see Patrick's review of I Am My Own wife and Richard's reviews of Harbor and Candide


Michael Walraven and Leslie Klor
First produced in 1920, The Bat is a bit of a chestnut. Though director Clay David has reset the play in the 1950s, its antique creakiness shows through, and like a nonagenarian gymnast, fails to stick the landing. While there are a handful of good moments in this production, currently playing at the Novato Theater Company, it never finds its footing and stumbles through an approximately 75-minute running time, leaving its audience mystified—but for all the wrong reasons.

Some of the blame for the tedium must be laid on the play itself, which, although a hit during its Broadway run at the Morosco Theatre, is simply not compelling or dramatic enough.

It begins with the arrival of Miss Cornelia Von Gorder (Leslie Klor) at a large home near New York that she has rented for the summer. With her are her niece, Miss Dale Ogden (Arden Kilzer), and Elizabeth Allen (Marilyn Hughes), her personal secretary. Upon arrival, they discover they have come to a community where a killer/thief (the titular Bat) is on the loose. Worse still, the three women believe that on previous nights, someone has tried to break in. Add to this the rumors that a stolen fortune has been hidden somewhere in the house and you'd think you have the makings of a first-rate mystery.

You'd be wrong. Because, even though a mystery requires a little confusion on the part of the audience, it also requires that the stakes be clearly laid out. Here, however, I wasn't sure what was at stake. Though the house guests are likeable, engaging characters (especially man-crazy Elizabeth, the personal secretary), we never really feel their connection to the action.

Even though the plot is muddier than a flooding Russian River, the antique nature of the play has the possibility of being a fun, campy romp. With its array of stock mystery characters—the dowager aunt, perky ingĂ©nue, hard-boiled detective, quirky maid, etc.—and locations taken straight from a game of "Clue" (with references to the conservatory and billiard room), and secret rooms and intermittent power outages, this could have been terrifically funny. The playwright, noted mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, even threw in several funny lines.

Unfortunately, the cast never seems to get the comic timing right and those line mostly flutter lifelessly to the ground. Though it seems the cast wants to play it for laughs, the rhythm required for humor is rarely present. Ms. Hughes' girlish ogling and flirtation of every man who walks on stage provides some of the best/only laughs of the night, and John Conway's portrayal of Detective Anderson is freighted with a suitable gravitas. He would be a good comic foil, if only he had some real comedy to play against.

On the bright side, the set and costumes are quite well done, and reflect director David's desire to pay homage to the films of Douglas Sirk, with the colors, costumes, sets, and even the flowers working together to set the scene. Music and sound effects also combine to add a cinematic feeling to the proceedings.

Ultimately, there are bigger mysteries here than whodunit. The main one being why Novato Theater Company decided to revive this clunker.

The Bat runs through March 1, 2015, at the Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Novato. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 general, $22 for seniors and students and $19 for NTC members. Tickets and additional information are available at www.novatotheatercompany.org or by calling 415-883-4498.


Photo: Wendell H. Wilson


Cheers - and be sure to Check the lineup of great shows this season in the San Francisco area

- Patrick Thomas