Pat Launer on San Diego Theater
By Pat Launer, SDNN
February 18, 2010
Mystery
in the Manor House
THE SHOW: “An
Inspector Calls,” a psychological thriller
and a Lamb’s Players Theatre revival
He shuffles in, wrinkled raincoat and all. Columbo with a
British accent, a shambling sort of
know-it-all nit-picker who works his wily ways on everyone under investigation. And in this
play, that means everyone.
According
to Inspector Goole (or should that be Ghoul?), he’s
just seen a hapless young girl at the morgue, victim of an unsavory suicide. He
just wants to ask a few questions.
The
well-to-do Birling family is resentful of his
intrusion. They’re in the midst of a family celebration: Sheila has just become
engaged to Gerald Croft, already a successful businessman, a manufacturing
competitor of Mr. Birling, Sr. Perhaps
a merger may be in the offing.
So
what on earth could this upstanding family have to do with a poor girl’s death?
Well, quite a bit, it turns out. Every member of the family, wittingly or not,
due to their superciliousness and class condescension, is in some way
implicated in the dissolution of the young thing’s life.
There
are morals to be learned here, and there may be a bit of preachiness.
But that doesn’t make this any less an edge-of-your-seat mystery, with a
neck-snapping twist-ending that leaves you hanging, trying to figure it all out
on your own.
Written
by J.B. Priestley in 1945, and set in a fictitious
Falling
out of favor and taste, the play languished for quite some time. But it enjoyed
a dramatic resurgence, beginning in 1993, when British director Stephen Daldry dusted it off, gave it a fabulous refurbishment
(thanks to a magical set that nearly stole the show), and re-set it in the
post-Thatcher 1980s. The play became a megahit all over again, winning 20
prestigious awards, including four Tonys on Broadway and three Oliviers in
Even
before that revival, Lamb’s Players Theatre re-discovered the piece, and
mounted a successful production in 1989. Given the current social-political climate,
and the ever-widening divide between rich and poor, the timing seems just right
for another revisit.
To
underscore the continuing relevance of the play, Lamb’s set it exactly 100
years ago. The set (
David
Cochran Heath and Glynn Bedington are spot-on as the
pompous and patronizing parents, who, like the arrogant young man who plans to
wed their daughter (a haughty Lance Arthur Smith), never see anything wrong
with what they’ve said or done, and show no remorse, even after all they’ve all
been through (kinda makes you think of Enron or Wall
Street, the banks and insurance companies).
Only
the offspring – the dissolute son (Jon Lorenz, first-rate) and disillusioned
daughter (Colleen Kollar Smith, excellent) learn
something from the harrowing experience. As befits their class, the family maid
(
The
ending may leave some folks a bit unnerved or confused. You have to puzzle it
out for yourself. Which keeps you on your toes… through the
conclusion and beyond.
THE LOCATION: Lamb’s Players Theatre,
THE DETAILS: Tickets:
$26-58. Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m.,
Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., through March
21.
THE
BOTTOM LINE: Best Bet
Maintaining
Equilibrium
THE SHOW: “A
Delicate Balance” – the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama
by Edward Albee, at OnStage Playhouse
A
delicate balance. It’s
both the name of the play, the state of the characters and the description of
how it must be done. Somehow, one has to make these desultory rich, filled with
fear and loathing and liquor, deep enough, engaging enough and rich enough (in
the character sense) to care about. There’s a reason the play isn’t presented
that often.
Appearing in 1967,
five years later and undeniably in the shadow of “Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (a far better play),
“Balance” seems to have garnered the ‘consolation prize’ Pulitzer that was due
to “Virginia Woolf,” after a skittish
“A Delicate Balance”
is more directly autobiographical (each character has a real-life counterpart
direct from Albee’s life, starting with the self-absorbed matriarch) and it’s
pitched at a much lower key. All the venom and anger in these
upper-crust, hyperverbal avoiders is beneath the surface. And unless a
truckload of subtext is played, the drama isn’t going to work.
Kudos must be
given to OnStage for taking on a huge challenge. Part
of that daunting task is just mastering the lines, of which there are very,
very many. (The play runs three acts, 2¾ hours). The lines weren’t always
firmly in place the night I was there, though the lapses were covered well.
What’s missing in this production is depth of character; we don’t sense a whole
netherworld beneath the surface of the words and (mostly) unexpressed emotions.
And without that, the play feels brittle, arcane and artificial.
These folks just
seem too – nice – to exist in Albee’s venal universe. They don’t appear to be
masking layers of pain, anguish, hostility, hurt and disappointment. They
maintain a relative calm, with a few rare emotional outbursts. But under the
direction of
As Agnes, the
ostensible fulcrum of the family, Loretta Haas displays a complaisance that
belies the character’s fear of loneliness, madness and loss of control. As her
laconic husband, Tobias, O.P. Hadlock (also the set
designer) is aptly reserved and resigned, eager to avoid confrontation. He
soars in what Albee called the third-act “aria,” an unexpected eruption of
honesty. Lynn Zetta McAlister provides energy and
(acid-laced) comic relief as Claire, Agnes’ ever-inebriated live-in sister, who
professes to be an intentional drunk, not an alcoholic. Michelle DeFrancesco is fiery as the petulant 36 year-old adolescent
who wants to return to the womb (and her old room) after the dissolution of her
fourth marriage. But that room is being taken up by Harry (Mark Zweifach) and Edna (Elaine Litton), Agnes and Tobias’ best
friends, who’ve moved in to escape an unnamed, mysterious terror that’s
panicked them into escaping from their own home.
The family balance
is tenuous to begin with. Real feelings are kept in check; confrontations are
avoided at all cost. Even alcohol can’t dull the sense of anger, entitlement,
loss, frustration and disillusionment this time. The fragile net is about to
give way. All the old assumptions about friendship, duty, loyalty and love are
crumbling. Emotional flare-ups, tears, tantrums, gun-wielding and even some
truth-telling ensue. This isn’t Albee at his best. But it’s a drama you don’t
often see, so that should entice devoted theaterlovers. And to be sure, a good deal of effort and heart have obviously gone into
this production.
THE LOCATION: OnStage Playhouse,
THE DETAILS: Tickets:
$13-15. Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.,
Sunday at 2 p.m., through February 27.
NEWS
AND VIEWS
… Acting Nationally:
… Luann Ages:
Renowned cartoonist Greg Evans, a
… Jane’s Back!:
The marvelously inventive improv company, Impro Theatre of Los Angeles, is returning to North Coast Repertory
Theatre to present another go-round of “Jane
Austen Unscripted,” which I called “hilarious and terrific… a delectably
smart, tasty treat.” Of course, you won’t see the same show I did, since each
one is made up on the spot, based on audience suggestions. The L.A. Times gave
the show a 4-star rating. Monday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Other upcoming treats at NCRT: “Nevermore…
An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe,” a celebration of the bicentennial of the frightmaster’s birth, with a story that chronicles his
descent into madness. Performed by Jeffrey
Combs (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine & Enterprise”). Feb. 23-24. And
another rendition of Tuesday Night
Comics with Mark Christopher Lawrence (‘Big
… Performers
Become Producers: Lily Tomlin
and her long-time collaborator, Jane Wagner (their “Search for Signs of
Intelligent Life in the Universe” played on Broadway in 1985-6), will join the
producing team behind a one-man Off Broadway show, “My Trip Down the
Pink Carpet,” performed by Leslie Jordan (‘Beverley Leslie’ on NBC’s “Will
& Grace”); Jordan premiered his autobiographical piece in L.A. in 2008,
before launching a national tour. The show is scheduled to open in April at the
Midtown Theatre. Meanwhile, Elton John
and his partner, David Furnish, are backing the play “Next Fall,” opening on
Broadway next month. And rap star Jay-Z,
along with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith,
are involved in the current Broadway musical hit, “Fela!”
…V-Day extends
into March: Still coming up: that ‘other’ V-Day, the one that, every year,
thanks to playwright Eve Ensler, aims to stop the violence
against women with worldwide performances of “The Vagina Monologues.” Once again, InnerMission Productions and Triad
Productions are teaming up for activities and performances, the proceeds of
which will go to a local charity -- The Center for Community Solutions,
dedicated to ending sexual violence --
as well as to Ensler’s international
organization, v-day.org. “The Vagina Monologues” will be performed on March 3,
5 and 6 and its male counterpart, “The MENding Monologues,” will be shown March 4, 6 and 7,
both at Diversionary Theatre. Details at www.innermissionproductions.org
Dance Corner
… Urban Dance:
The PGK Project presents its annual
spring season performance, a new work entitled “Concrete Jungle,” sponsored by the San Diego Youth & Community
Services organization, which has donated its neighborhood facility, The Golden
Hill Youth & Community Center. This world premiere is inspired by urban
settings, driven by the music of
… Dance in
Progress: See a Studio Showcase
at
PAT’S PICKS: BEST
BETS
v “An Inspector Calls” – razor-sharp
production of a mystery/thriller classic
Lamb’s
Players Theatre, through 3/21
v “The Wild Party” – wild, indeed! Cheeky,
wicked and wonderfully sung/danced/acted
Read
Review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-02-11/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/the-wild-party-plus-more-theater-reviews-news
v “The Man Who” – an actors’ showcase, a
hard look at the brain; something different and provocative (the subject matter
may not be for everyone, but the performances are!)
v “The Piano Lesson” –flawless production
of August
Cygnet
Theatre, through 2/28
Read
Review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-02-03/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/the-piano-lesson-plus-more-theater-reviews-news
v “Whisper House” – a quirky ghost story,
with music; world premiere, excellently executed
The
Old Globe, through 2/21
Read
review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-27/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/whisper-house-plus-more-theater-reviews-news
Pat Launer is the
SDNN theater critic.
To
read any of her prior reviews, type ‘Pat Launer,’ and the name of the play of interest,
into the SDNN Search box.