Suzanne Angeo

A WORLD PREMIERE IN SAN RAFAEL

 

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

 

Photos by David Allen Studio

 

“Landless” Is Cynical, Inspiring

“Landless” is a unique bit of pop-up theater being presented by the AlterTheater Ensemble in two Bay Area locations. The first production, at an empty storefront in San Rafael (unusual for the North Bay), is the world premiere. It continues its run in San Francisco at the ACT Costume Shop Theater. “Landless” explores the meaning of interdependence, community, home, friendship and family, with touches of romance and villainy. Through each character we experience what it means to be landless, in different ways, and witness the demise of the middle class.

Commissioned by AlterTheater, the award-winning Larissa FastHorse, a Lakota tribe playwright and choreographer, wrote “Landless” based on conversations with business owners and residents of San Rafael. Using the flashback narrative device, she tells the poignant story of Matthew’s Mercantile, a venerable Main Street shop in Anytown USA, which has been run by four generations of the same family. But after 120 years, it has reached the end of the road, losing business for years to big-box stores. Elise, the aging shop owner, is forced to liquidate, losing both her business and her home. The longtime relationship between Elise (Patricia Silver) and Josiah (Nick Garcia) has become like family. Josiah came to work at the shop as a lonely ten-year-old right after Elise’s father died, and stayed for more than 20 years, helping run the shop. Elise has been helping a homeless man, Mr Harrison (Michael Asberry), to find work and shelter at her store. He is able to retain his dignity and sense of self-worth because of her kindness. Every item in the shop has a backstory, triggering flashback-time travel.

Josiah and his family are prominent local members of a “landless” Native American tribe (Josiah: “It’s like being born royalty”). The tribe has just regained Federal standing and now has access to funds to build a casino and hotel. Josiah dreams of great riches and hopes to be able to help his beleaguered friend Elise keep her shop. Complications arise when the tribe runs into roadblocks courtesy of the ruthless owner of a neighboring business (Emilie Talbot). Josiah loses his new-found identity, Elise loses her business and her home, but in the end they both accept their new realities with joy and a profound sense of renewal.

Asberry (acclaimed for his recent work in “Fences” at Marin Theatre Company) has a chameleon-like talent and convincingly plays a number of vividly-drawn characters, including a goofy teenager in love, Josiah’s disillusioned father and Elise’s gentle and caring homeless companion Mr Harrison. Talbot as Natalie, excellent in this and other small roles, offers an honest interpretation. You can feel Natalie’s frustration and raw survival instinct, compelling her to hurt others to protect herself and her family. Garcia delivers a fine performance for the most part, but his technique falls short when he plays Josiah at age ten – it’s a stretch to see the bearded actor as a child. Silver as Elise is a good enough actress, but does not convincingly give the illusion of youth in her flashback scenes. Capturing youth is a difficult task for any mature actor.

Capably directed by Ann Brebner and Jeannette Harrison, the San Rafael location is an imaginative, ambitious production. It’s presented on a shoestring in an intimate and bare-bones venue that seems especially suited to the story. Props are donated hand-me-downs from local thrift stores and fit the setting perfectly. However, issues with the lighting and sound system make it seem inadequate to the task. There’s a grating noise and flashes of light to indicate flashbacks in time, effects that seem ineffective and irritating at the same time. Sometimes the flashbacks, which may be a bit too frequent and confusing to the story, can challenge the audience’s imagination. Transitions are a little abrupt and sometimes it’s hard to tell if we’re in the present or the past. Overall, this is a very risky yet thoughtful production that addresses with brutal honesty how people feel about becoming “Landless”, with a strangely uplifting and surprising ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In San Rafael Through February 1, 2015

8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

2:30 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $25

Location: 1619 Fourth Street (at G Street, next to Johnny Doughnuts)

San Rafael, CA
Phone: 415-454-2787

Website: www.altertheater.org

 

 

When: February 12 through February 22, 2015

8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

2:30 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $25

Location: ACT Costume Shop Theater

1117 Market Street

San Francisco, CA
Phone: 415-454-2787

Website: www.altertheater.org

 

 

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)

 

Photos by Eric Chazankin

 

Stunning Cast and Director Hit ‘Clybourne’ Out of the Park

With the winning combination of a Pulitzer Prize-winning script, a visionary director and a superb cast, “Clybourne Park” at 6^th Street Playhouse was certainly destined to be pretty good. But there is an almost mystic alchemy at work here in what may be the best show in the North Bay.

Playwright Bruce Norris won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Clybourne Park” in 2011, and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2012. Norris was inspired by characters and events in the 1959 play “A Raisin in the Sun”, and his play can be seen as a companion piece, but it stands powerfully on its own. With a uniquely deft touch, Norris explores the dark side of human nature and the different forms that discrimination and prejudice can take. Hot-button social issues like civil rights, racism, family loyalty and gentrification are tackled head-on. Filled with biting humor and sarcasm, awkwardly hilarious at times, the dialogue crackles and flows like an electric current.

The story takes place in a house in a Chicago neighborhood called Clybourne Park, over two acts that are bookends to a half-century span, with a lifetime of world-changing events happening in between. Each actor in the brilliant cast of seven has a dual role, one for each of the two acts. The roles and events in each act are in sharp contrast, but there are threads that unite the two halves: Both acts open at 3:30 in the afternoon…someone is being discouraged from selling the house to “the wrong people”…the clock strikes four…phone calls are taken…a character is pregnant …an army trunk makes an appearance…members of the neighborhood association meet…tensions grow into a volcanic explosion…common elements that interweave and tie the acts together in the most graceful, engaging way. The catalyst is a Korean War vet’s suicide that haunts the play from beginning to end.

Act I is set in pre-civil rights 1959. It begins with Bev (Jill Zimmerman) and her husband Russ (Mike Pavone), in the midst of packing up and moving from their longtime home, and mourning the recent loss of their son, Kenneth. Russ is nearly paralyzed by grief, with rage simmering just below the surface. Bev is masking her feelings and at the same time trying to be of some comfort to Russ. Their black maid Francine (Serena Flores) is on hand to assist, and her husband Albert (Dorian Lockett) arrives to pick her up. Kindly minister Jim (Chris Ginesi), who’s also a family friend, pays a visit to offer solace. All seems well until Karl (Jeff Cote), a member of their neighborhood association, drops by with his very pregnant wife Betsy (Melissa Claire), who is also deaf. Karl is on a mission: To get Bev and Russ to back out of the sale of their home to the “colored” family that bought it (the Youngers in “A Raisin in the Sun”). The neighbors, all white, fear that a black family will cause their property values to plummet. Russ and Bev call upon the hapless Francine and Albert to weigh in. There are razor-sharp exchanges and some outrageous jokes, and an enraged Russ finally throws Karl and Betsy out. The act closes with a spotlight on Bev, a tear shining on her face, a moment of breathtaking artistry by Zimmerman.

Act II finds a very tense neighborhood association meeting in progress. It’s now 2009, in the same Clybourne Park house. Social and cultural revolutions have come and gone over the past 50 years, the neighbors have changed from white to black, but the house still stands, though a bit worse for wear with gaping holes in the walls and trash strewn over the floor. The new owners – a very pregnant Lindsey (Claire) and husband Steve (Cote), who are white – want to tear the dilapidated house down and build a much larger one in its place. Present is their lawyer, Karl and Betsy’s daughter Kathy (Zimmerman). A descendant of the Youngers, Lena (Flores), is there with her husband Kevin (Lockett) to represent the association. Tom (Ginesi) is running the discussion, and it’s not going well. The neighbors claim that they object to the new house because of its size, but Lindsey and Steve suggest it’s really just thinly-veiled racial prejudice. More razor-sharp exchanges and even more outrageous jokes, and more volcanic explosions of temper. A brash and funny contractor named Dan (Pavone) walks in and begins to describe what he found while digging outside. It turns out he has uncovered the sad heart of the story that began 50 years earlier. The light changes, time travels back to 1959 again, and Kenneth has the last word. It’s an exquisite ending to a compelling show and tour-de-force ensemble performance.

Each and every actor in “Clybourne Park” is performing at the highest level one could hope to see on any stage, giving remarkable gifts to the audience: Zimmerman (winner of the SFBATCC Award for Best Actress for “August: Osage County”) through her controlled emotional build and sensitivity; Pavone’s fearless revelation of rage and sorrow; Cote’s relentless comic agility; Ginesi with his warm honesty and naturalism; Flores’s striking versatility and discipline; Lockett and his magnetic yet subtle delivery; Claire (a 3-time SFBATCC nominee) and her lively, irresistible characterizations.

Crafting of the set was placed in the capable hands of noted area set designer Ronald Krempetz, who deserves special mention. As Resident Set Designer and Instructor at College of Marin Kentfield, he has designed sets for hundreds of productions at the college and around the Bay Area, including the San Francisco Ballet and Marin Theatre Company. Kudos is also due to Tracy Sigrist for her superb costume design, as well as Theo Bridant’s excellent work on lighting.

When asked what first drew him to the play, director Carl Jordan said it was its sheer complexity, and that he approached the script much like a musical score to be conducted. Jordan has also won awards from SFBATCC, for directing and choreography. Through his guidance and perfect casting, each actor wears their dual roles like a pair of comfortable shoes, walking around in them very naturally. This lends an air of authenticity and realism throughout. A rich and profoundly moving experience, “Clybourne Park” is a roller-coaster of a show that will leave you breathless.

When: Now through January 25, 2015

8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

8:00 p.m. Thursday, January 22

2:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Tickets: $15 to $32

Location: GK Hardt Theater at 6^th Street Playhouse

52 West 6^th Street, Santa Rosa CA
Phone: 707-523-4185

Website: www.6thstreetplayhouse.com

 

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Photos by Eric Chazankin

 

 

Triumph of a Sparrow

It’s the ultimate rags-to-riches story, from the streets of Paris to Carnegie Hall and beyond, the urchin who became a legend in her own time, a delicate sparrow-girl with a roaring, passionate voice. ”Edith Piaf: Beneath Paris Skies” in its world premiere at Cinnabar, is a stunning, beautifully realized cabaret-style production. Created by Valentina Osinski and Michael Van Why, it’s a truly unique revelation of la Piaf’s stormy soul. 

Piaf wrote many of her own lyrics to songs that became classics, the result of a lifelong collaboration with songwriter and composer Marguerite Monnot. Born Edith Gassion, she soon picked up the nickname “piaf”, French slang for sparrow, due to her tiny frame and jaunty spirit. She soared to fame during and after World War II. Raw and sensitive, vulgar and elegant, she was a study in contrasts and adored by millions the world over.

“Beneath Paris Skies” captures Piaf’s short, tempest-tossed life through distinct personas performed by four talented singers: Julia Hathaway displays Piaf’s Romantic aspect, Kevin Singer offers her Traditional side, Osinski as the Reckless Piaf, and Van Why as her Jaded self. Rounding out the cast in a non-singing role is Melissa Weaver as Simone, Piaf’s devoted half-sister. It’s interesting that men were chosen to reveal certain parts of Piaf’s character, showing that her struggles and joys transcend gender. Each of the vocalists, and Weaver, is nothing less than sublime. Together, as an ensemble, they forge an emotional connection with the audience that remains unbroken long after the music is done. 

The inspiring, lively show unfolds in a series of musical vignettes. French lyrics to 20 of her best-loved songs have been adapted by Lauren Lundgren, who sought to reveal more of the truth behind the songs than previous translations. A band of five top-notch musicians (Al Haas, Robert Lunceford, Daniel Gianola-Norris, Jan Martinelli and John Shebalin) are on hand to provide quality accompaniment.  A pink rose turns up in nearly every scene, a metaphor for Piaf’s undying hope in love amid the ruins of her life. 

Stage direction by Weaver is a brilliant, magical mix of high and low-tech, where a section of a stage platform can become a bed, and projected images can provide vivid illustration to the stories behind the songs. And what songs they are! Many are instantly recognizable: “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No, I Regret Nothing)”, “Mon Manege a Moi (My Own Carousel)”, and the eternal standards “La Vie en Rose (Life in Pink)” and “Sous le Ciel de Paris (Beneath Paris Skies)”. 

A woman whose life was ruled by her never-ending quest for love never quite found what she was looking for. But what she did find was worldwide acclaim, and a place in history and in the hearts of romantics everywhere. “Beneath Paris Skies” offers a rare glimpse into Piaf’s world, and into her heart.  

 

When: Now through January 25, 2015  (Just extended due to sell-out shows – hurry, tickets are going fast!)

8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

2 p.m. Sundays

2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 17

Tickets: $25 to $35

Location: Cinnabar Theater

3333 Petaluma Blvd North, PetalumaCA
Phone: 707-763-8920

Website: www.cinnabartheater.org

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Photos courtesy of Marin Theatre Company

Nouveau Vaudeville Meets Rambozo the Clown

Written, directed and performed by The Reduced Shakespeare Company (Austin Tichenor and Reed Martin, with able-bodied help from Dominic Conti), “The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)” is comedy for grown-ups – part primer, part clownfest, part tribute – clever, smart and funny, slyly deceptive and irreverent. First released on an unsuspecting Cincinnati audience in November 2013, it’s a series of loosely connected sketches built on the premise that Sun Tzu (pronounced Choo), author of “The Art of War”, had a brother named Ah Tzu who secretly wrote his own book, “The Art of Comedy”. The books’ parallels to theatre are clear: War is tragedy, after all, and comedy the eternal opposite. If war can destroy the world, comedy can save it.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company certainly knows how to make an impression. They’ve appeared at the Kennedy Center, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and theaters in Sonoma, New York City and London, garnering nominations for the Olivier Award, Helen Hayes Award and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics CircleAwards. And they know how to get all the right kind of attention, too. Case in point: An earlier show, “The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)” was all set to perform in January 2014 in Northern Ireland when local public officials objected to the show’s “blasphemous” subject matter and voted to cancel it. The public demanded the show must go on, and go on it did. The uproar and publicity resulted in an even more successful run than any had imagined. The show was a smash hit in its UK tour.

These merry pranksters of the stage take their comedy very, very seriously, invoking the spirit of vaudeville and Saturday Night Live, with snippets of Commedia dell’Arte, Firesign Theatre, Chaplin, Seinfeld, Second City and Monty Python gleefully tossed into the mix. And the show includes a real slapstick (if you’ve never seen one in use, now’s your chance).

Occasionally brilliant, relentlessly intense, fast and furious pacing; the troupe makes good use of the entire stage. The three work as one unit, ricocheting lines – and cream pies – off of each other.  No one is spared, and nearly every sacred cow is butchered. Audience participation and improv add to the fun. And if you don’t watch out, you just might learn something along the way, in between the belly laughs.

When: now through December 21, 2014

8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays

7:30 p.m. Wednesdays

2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays

2 p.m. Saturday, December 20

Tickets: $37 to $58

Location: Marin Theatre Company

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley CA 94941
Phone: 415-388-5208

Website: www.marintheatre.org

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)

 

Photos by Eric Chazankin

Fruits and Nuts Take the Stage

A delightful slice of nineteenth-century Americana is being served up in its world premiere at 6^th Street Playhouse complete with old-timey footlights, just perfect for the holidays. “Jolly Juliana”, with the loaded subtitle “Her Fruitcake Has Nuts”, is an original melo-dramedy written and directed by local renaissance man Larry Williams. It’s a play-within-a play set in the Santa Rosa of 1905 performed by “Osgood’s Traveling Vaudevillians” and serves as the first act. For the most part Williams keeps the energy wheel spinning, and it only slows down in a couple of spots. There are place references and local jokes galore (Lucifer’s Rancheria draws a huge guffaw).

“Juliana” is faithful to the exaggerated and hyper-emotional style of acting that saw its heyday in the 1800s. Williams adds a generous helping of broad comedy which makes this show really fun to watch. The cast mostly has the melodramatic thing nailed down, especially April Krautner  as our sanguine Heroine and major fruitcake-baker  Juliana, and Williams as the evil Lucifer Bellows. Remember the now-cliché scene where the villain ties his victim to a railroad track with a speeding train approaching? It was first seen in 1870 in a play called “Under the Gaslight” and  ever after was shown again and again in early films like “The Perils of Pauline”. Naturally, Juliana soon finds herself in this predicament, with Evan Attwood as our Hero Teddy saving the day.  A nice assortment of nutty performers rounds out the cast. Just one tiny issue with the play-within-a-play concept: if you were watching the show without seeing the playbill, you never would know that you are watching actors playing other actors.

The second act is “The Festive Holiday Vaudeville”, a series of lively vaudeville-style skits that are pure pleasure and really hold your attention, relying heavily on audience participation. Notable are the spectacular vocals of Robert Ellison who, in addition to playing the singing Narrator of “Juliana”, also delivers one of the high points in the vaudeville part of the show, a thrill that brings down the house. The wildly funny finale features a rousing and zany version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Through it all, it’s plain that Krautner – here at her lovable, goofy and gorgeous best – is the star of the show. The girl can’t help it.

The ensemble in both acts worked well, with Williams doing a nice job blocking and staging the movements of the cast and guiding the difficult techniques that are used in the melodramatic and vaudevillian arts. Seeing Krautner, Williams and Ellison do their stuff is well worth the price of admission. All in all, it’s jolly cornball fun for the whole family.

When: Now through December 21, 2014

8:00 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (no show on Thanksgiving Day, November 27)

2:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Tickets: $15 to $32

Location: GK Hardt Theater at 6^th Street Playhouse

52 West 6^th Street, Santa Rosa CA
Phone: 707-523-4185

Website: www.6thstreetplayhouse.com

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

 

Photos by Eric Chazankin

Of Hootie Pies and Voodoo Dolls in Bucks County, PA

Have no fear. This crisp and wickedly funny homage to the revered Russian writer Anton Chekhov,  by American playwright Christopher Durang, may be filled with references to themes in Chekhov’s work, but they are so cleverly interwoven into the story that you don’t even have to know Chekhov to enjoy the fun. And if you do, all the better. What’s more, it’s fresh. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” just opened on Broadway last year and won the Tony Award for Best Play.

Main Stage West presents an outstanding ensemble piece that draws many a chuckle. The central characters, Vanya, Sonia and Masha, are siblings whose late parents were Chekhov devotees and named them accordingly. Their lives have unfolded in incredibly Chekhovian ways (including a cherry orchard which may not be a cherry orchard) with a little Greek tragedy is thrown in for good measure.

Vanya (Eric Thompson) and Sonia (Madeleine Ashe) have reached middle age existing in a sort of bubble. They spent most of their lives caring for their parents, who have recently died.  Their jet-setting sister Masha (Elly Lichenstein) has lived at the opposite extreme – she’s a glamorous movie star whose fame and fortune has supported her family. Now she’s swooped in from the coast with her much-younger boyfriend Spike (Tyler Costin), to remind everyone just how wonderful and important she is. All four are a steaming mass of insecurities.  Complicating matters further is a star-struck lovely young neighbor Nina (Ivy Rose Miller). Then the bell of doom sounds when their clairvoyant housekeeper Cassandra (Naomi Sample) delivers a solemn proclamation: beware of Hootie Pie.

As if that weren’t enough, Vanya has been secretly writing a play over the years, a post-apocalyptic  piece featuring talking molecules. The inevitable play-reading leads to a hilariously rambling stream-of-consciousness trip down memory lane by Vanya, reflecting bittersweet annoyance with cultural changes over the past 50 years and longing for the good old days of Howdy Doody.  “We used to lick postage stamps!” he exclaims, as if that’s the key to solving all the problems in the world today.

Thompson offers an excellent rendition of an aging, frustrated gay man pining for what he can’t have. Lichenstein shows remarkable versatility and is always a pleasant surprise, displaying real star power through Masha’s magnificent self-obsession. Sample is a real gem, a sparkling centerpiece of the show.  The way her Cassandra uses voodoo on Masha is one of the most hilarious scenes in the play. But the real revelation is that Ashe’s Sonia ends up as the life of the party by being someone else. If Masha is the wicked stepsister (disguised as Snow White), then Sonia is Cinderella (disguised as Dame Maggie Smith), and she may find her prince charming after all.

Costin as Spike is a departure from the typical casting for this role. Instead of a buffed-up beefcake, Spike’s wiry physique and relentless narcissism makes him seem all the more comical, and he plays it to the hilt. Miller as Nina gives a guileless, almost ethereal performance, and through her childlike innocence helps the unhappy siblings see the light.

Sharp ensemble directing is by Sheri Lee Miller, with subtle details in movements and staging that serve as fluid support for the zany antics. The energy level drags a bit in some spots during the play-reading scene but loses none of its comic irony. As always, there’s an excellent set by David Lear, with soft pastels used in the scenic design that contrast nicely with the acerbic humor. Truly an ideal showcase for some of the best talent in Sonoma County, this is a very funny, original and unique production.

 

When: Now through November 16, 2014

8:00 p.m Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays

5:00 p.m. Sundays

Tickets $15 to $25

Where: Main Stage West

104 North Main Street

Sebastopol, CA 95472

(707) 823-0177

www.mainstagewest.com

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Photos by Eric Chazankin

‘Tis the Season of the Witch

Five of the best comedic actors in the North Bay are all gathered in one small space to help usher in the season of pumpkins and hobgoblins with “Bell, Book and Candle”,  a thoroughly enjoyable if uneven show presented by the Spreckels Theatre Company.

English playwright John Van Druten was very successful in the 1930s with hit shows in the West End. His play “Bell, Book and Candle” premiered on Broadway in 1950, starring Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer. Van Druten is perhaps better known for 1951’s “I am a Camera” which served as inspiration for the musical “Cabaret”. Ultimately, “Bell, Book and Candle” also served as inspiration – for the popular television series “Bewitched”.

The story: It’s Christmastime in present-day New York City. Gillian, her brother Nicky and their Aunt Queenie form a quirky, crafty trio of witch-folk living the high life. They belong to an esoteric cult that hangs out at the underground Zodiac Club, casting spells but never seeming to get anywhere. Gillian is bored with her life and lack of romance, and decides on a vengeful whim to cast a love spell on her neighbor, a book publisher named Shep, with unintended consequences. One of his clients is an eccentric “authority” on the occult named Sidney who, despite having written a few books on magic, has no clue as to what he’s about to get into.

Comedy powerhouse Liz Jahren plays Gillian as a barefoot goddess, although she’s a little too grounded in the role. She could use a bit more of a lofty, ethereal quality to make more dramatic her fall to earth as she falls in love and loses her magic powers. The usually-goofy Larry Williams as the unsuspecting Shep plays it subdued, cool and conservative, just a normal guy trying to deal with his strange new lover. Peter Warden is reliably puckish in the role of Gillian’s brother Nicky, another really fun-to-watch performance in his ever-growing repertoire. David Yen delivers an uninhibited, crazedly commanding performance as Sidney.

But it’s really Mary Gannon Graham who seems to be having all the fun. When she takes the stage as the zany, Bohemian flower-child Queenie, you can’t see anybody else up there. She’s absolutely shameless, and why not? With her captivating stage presence and glorious bursts of song, she casts her enchantment over the audience like a magic shawl.

Director Thomas Chapman adapted the 1950 script to a more modern setting, but some anachronistic references remain, which weaken the overall effect. He made interesting, though infrequent use of special lighting, flooding the stage with dazzling, spinning stars and other mystical effects. He was able to create simple staging, allowing the actors to move without upstaging each other. Even though the story is offbeat and wacky, the intimate space calls for just a bit more subtlety.  There is nothing subtle about Elizabeth Bazzano’s set design, which turns Gillian’s Greenwich Village apartment into something closely resembling a florid bordello.

“Bell, Book and Candle” is presented at the Bette Condiotti Theatre, the smaller of the two venues at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center. When these three over-the-top actors – Jahren, Warden and Graham – are onstage at the same time, the performances seem to be directed at folks way up in the balcony in a much bigger space, rather than such an intimate house. It could be dialed back just a bit to connect better with the audience just a few feet away. Nonetheless, it’s a fun, spirited show with lively pacing and fascinating characters, well worth seeing just in time for Halloween.

When: Now through October 12, 2014

8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 9

2:00 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $22 to $26

Location: Spreckels Performing Arts Center

5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park CA
Phone: 707-588-3400

Website: www.spreckelsonline.com

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Photos by Eric Chazankin

The Honeymoon’s Over

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen has crafted some of the strongest women characters in theatre. The strongest of them all, and perhaps the most difficult to portray, may be Hedda Gabler. To say she’s a troubled woman is an understatement. She’s an intriguing mix of sociopath, temptress, dominatrix and neurotic, all wrapped up in a very decorative package. Ibsen’s play of the same name premiered in Germany in 1891 and was not well received, and no surprise. Few characters demonstrate such a calculated lack of empathy (with the possible exception of Regina in “The Little Foxes”), and few endings are as dismal. But the play went on to become a classic. The adaptation of Ibsen’s play by Brian Friel, now being presented at Main Stage West, is an intricate story filled with taut suspense and fine performances by every member of the cast.

The story takes place entirely in the drawing room of the fashionable villa that Hedda (Ilana Niernberger) shares with her new husband, George Tesman (Peter Downey), an academic with hopes for a professorship at the University. They have just this day returned from a six-month long honeymoon. George’s Aunt Juliana (Kate Bickley) and the housekeeper Bertha (Missy Weaver) are bustling about in preparation for the couple’s return. Paying a visit later are Hedda’s school chum Thea (Dana Scott), good friend Judge Brack (John Craven), and successful author Eilert Loevborg (John Browning), who also happens to be Hedda’s old flame. The storyline is dense and complex, and psychological intrigue abounds, inviting analysis. Through it all, Hedda plays mind games with everyone within reach. She seduces, manipulates, and even takes pot-shots with pistols at an unsuspecting guest. But her biggest conquest, and most horrifying acts, are yet to come.

 

Niernberger plays Hedda as rigid, humorless and brittle, but nonetheless fascinating to watch. You absolutely cannot take your eyes off of her while she is onstage, which is most of the time. Her predations on those around her, and their reactions, are the driving force of the story. It’s a strong and well-crafted performance, but seems to lack a certain nuance and development. Downey plays George as amiable and ambitious with a personal sense of urgency, giving his character bright energy and charm, in nice contrast to his wife. Bickley as Aunt Julia and Weaver as Bertha lend warmth and a sense of family. They both give nicely balanced and engaging performances. Scott as Thea is like a cute, jittery squirrel with a terrible secret.  She plays her role as an inhibited genius who alternates between heightened awareness and confusion. Craven as the slightly lustful Judge Brock underplays the part as he tries to figure Hedda out. George’s academic (and romantic) rival Loevborg is played by Browning with deliberation and vulnerability, slowly unraveling before our eyes.

As director Beth Craven says, Hedda is “a woman possessed – by love she cannot express, by jealousy she cannot acknowledge, by endless boredom with family life, and by the relentless energy of her spirit that will not be tamed and has no outlet.” Craven’s use of overlapping dialog lends fluidity and realism, which heightens the sense of drama. Simple staging and quite lovely sets by Craven and MSW’s resident scenic artist David Lear, set off nicely with quality costumes by Gail Reine, make this play thoroughly absorbing, artful and enjoyable.

When: Now through October 5, 2014

8:00 p.m Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays

5:00 p.m. Sundays

Tickets $15 to $25 (Thursdays are “pay what you will” at the door only)

Where: Main Stage West

104 North Main Street

Sebastopol, CA 95472

(707) 823-0177

www.mainstagewest.com