Ken Talley (c. r. Craig Marker*) debates his future with family and friends (l-r, Harold Pierce, John Girot*, Nanci Zoppi*, Oceana Ortiz, Jennifer LeBlanc*, Elizabeth Benedict*) in Aurora’s production ofFifth of July
FIFTH OF JULY: Drama by Lanford Wilson. Directed by Tom Ross. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA. (510) 843-4822 or at www.auroratheatre.org.
April 17 – May 17, 2015
Fifth of July does not ring true at Aurora Theatre. [rating:3]
There are times when theatre brings dramatic impetus to historical events. When Lanford Wilson’s play the Fifth of July hit the stage in 1977-1980 it was close enough to the end of the Vietnam War to be a cogent searing denunciation of a dark era in America’s history. Rather, the play is a taut personal family drama and does not reflect the horrific impact on thousands of Vietnam veterans that are still suffering from the effects of that conflict.
During that war there was a large anti-Vietnam war movement that was part of a larger Counterculture of the 1960s. Now, 40 years since the end of that war and 35 years since the production of Fifth of July the power of the original production has lost its visceral punch.
The action takes place on the afternoon of July Fourth and morning of July fifth in the Town of Lebanon, Missouri. Major characters in the play have been members of the counterculture that was rife with antigovernment rallies and the use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Director Ross has inserted a wild bacchanal prolog in an apparent attempt to etch that era in the minds of the audience. Doing so undermines the charming quiet scene between Kenneth Tally (Craig Marker) and his lover Jed Jenkins (Josh Schell) that opens the play.
The family involved in this play has a last name of Talley and is part of a trilogy that was written non-sequentially beginning with the Pulitzer Prize winner Talley’s Folly (1979) and continues with Talley and Son (1981). Aurora Theatre is honoring Wilson’s legacy by mounting all three plays. Talley’s Folly is playing to full houses in the in intimate Harry’s UpStage in the Dashow Wing with scheduled staged reading of Talley and Son on the main stage.
It is not necessary to be familiar with the first two parts of the trilogy since the only character from the previous plays who appears in the final play is Sally Friedman nee Aunt Sally. Ken Tally’s older sister June (Jennifer Le Blanc ) has had an out-of-wedlock child, Shirley ( Oceana Ortiz) now 13 years old. John Landis (John Girot) a former close friend/ classmate of Ken has married affluent Gwen (Nanci Zoppi) a wannabe country singer who has inherited and is running a successful business. The final character is Gwen’s guitar playing song writer Weston Hurley (Harold Pierce).
Ken has been living on the family estate with botanists Jed who has been planting shrubbery over the past two years to create an English style garden. Ken who has suffered bilateral above the knee amputations has been reluctantly preparing to return to his High School teaching job and has been transcribing the verbal ruminations of a brilliant eccentric friend who has been impaired by the Vietnam War. The question of selling the family home to John and Gwen who wish to convert it to a recording studio plays a major role in the conflict.
With all the characters in place, and as with every family drama, secrets, hidden animosities and past experiences unfold. Lanford Wilson is a master at setting up the premises and effectively dovetailing their interaction. Humor abounds and by the end of the play there is resolution.
Craig Marker gives a stunning performance and Jed’s love is expressed realistically in Josh Schell’s taut underplayed delivery. Director Ross has allowed the remainder of the cast to give over-the-top delivery of their lines that often times is excessive. It is difficult to develop empathy with Oceana Ortiz, who is actually only13 years old, playing the bratty Shirley. Elizabeth Benedict playing Sally Friedman who has preserved her husband’s ashes in a chocolate box, gives the show much of its humor.
Richard Olmsted’s beautiful interior-exterior set takes up a significant portion of the small three-sided acting area. This limits director Ross’s ability to move his characters about when all eight actors are on stage thus detracting from their interaction. Running time two hours and ten minutes with an intermission.
CAST: Craig Marker, Kenneth Talley Jr.; Josh Schell, Jed Jenkins; John Girot, John Landis; Nanci Zoppi, Gwen Landis; Jennifer Le Blanc, June Talley; Harold Pierce, Weston Hurley; Oceana Ortiz, Shirley Talley; Elizabeth Benedict, Sally Friedman.
ARTIST CREW: Set Designer, Richard Olmsted; Costume Designer, Heidi Leigh Hanson; Lighting Designer, Kurt Landisman; Stage Manager, Susan M. Reamy; Sound Designer, Chris Houston; Properties, Laraine Gurke; Movement/Fight Consultant, Dave Maier.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
Ken Talley (c. r. Craig Marker*) debates his future with family and friends (l-r, Harold Pierce, John Girot*, Nanci Zoppi*, Oceana Ortiz, Jennifer LeBlanc*, Elizabeth Benedict*) in Aurora’s production ofFifth of July
