Center
Stage with Pat Launer on KSDS JAZZ88
THEATRE REVIEW:
“The
Pleasure of His Company” – The Old Globe Theatre
AIRDATE:
AUGUST 1, 2008
Director Darko Tresnjak likes to rummage
through the attic of forgotten plays. He unearths a neglected bauble, dusts it
off and polishes it to a dazzling sheen. Last year, he brought new luster to “
It’s definitely an insubstantial trifle, but its message, if it has one,
is a tad unsavory. Carpe Diem, it says. Well, that part’s okay. But it goes
further, encouraging or condoning leaving behind your gray, everyday life (even
if that includes a loving fiancé and a wedding two days away) and allowing yourself
to be seduced into taking flight, not taking responsibility. Charm trumps
everything in this silly but slightly nasty little comedy by Samuel Taylor,
with Cornelia Otis Skinner. Even if the charm is shallow and
narcissistic. Even if you’ve got a wonderful life
waiting for you. A dollop of culture, adventure, world knowledge and un peu de français can entice anyone.
Jessica seems like a perfectly sensible young lady, approaching with
calm aplomb her upcoming marriage to a nice, Stanford-educated cattle rancher.
Her mother and stepfather like him just fine. Even her crusty grandfather
approves. And then her long-absent father breezes in. She hasn’t seen him in 15
years, but she’s totally swept away. She bears him no malice for ignoring her
all these years, ‘cause she’s followed his
international exploits, keeping a scrapbook of his adventures, travels and
conquests. So when he wines and dines her, whispers sweet French nothings in
her ear, paints enticing pictures of the glories of Europe, makes her fiancé
look like a dolt and a dullard, comes onto her mother, captivates her
grandfather and even beguiles the Chinese houseboy, she’s ready to follow him
anywhere. They all are. Oh, he’s charismatic, all right. But
also supremely self-absorbed and self-important, with a gaping hole of
loneliness inside. Still, he makes everyone else feel like their lives
are unsatisfying and unfulfilled. Jessica sees through him and still wants to
go off with him.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten all these pesky plot points off my chest, I
can tell you that Tresnjak, artistic director of the Old Globe, has created an
absolutely stunning production. The set is jaw-dropping, a gorgeous, woody San
Francisco mansion with the Golden Gate Bridge out the window, backed by an
ever-changing sky. The costumes are beautiful, and a pitch-perfect cast
squeezes every ounce of juice out of the characters. The clever dialogue is
punctuated by pratfalls, so there’s something comical for everyone. The play
may leave a bad taste in your mouth, but the production is most certainly
something to savor.
"The
Pleasure of His Company" runs through August 10 at the Old Globe
Theatre in
©2008 PAT LAUNER