top girls · as realized by helmer beverly olevin and a struggling ensemble, bates’s...
TRANSCRIPT
3/25/2014 Theater Reviews
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had been allowed to follow the earlystages of friction that appears to bebuilding between always-in-commandCharles and softly resentful Vin.Instead, Whitemore thrusts the four intothe background as the rest of play iscompletely taken over by a dazedHumphrey Biddulph (Ron Bottitta),who stumbles onto the veranda aftersmashing his car into a tree at theentrance to the farmhouse.
Once it is haltingly established thatobviously paranoid Humphrey is aBritish scholar, recently employed bythe Vatican, and that he has come intopossession of a document showing thatthe biblical account of the resurrectionof Christ was a hoax and Humphreynow fears for his life, all semblance ofan ensemble play disappears. It is nowthe Humphrey show, disseminatingreams of historical information for mostof the play, occasionally swatting awayany attempts at refutation by his four-member captive audience. Botttitta’spitifully life-beaten Biddulph commandsthis work, as certain of his atheism as heis that the powers of religious orthodoxywill never allow him to survive. Heappears more sad than self-righteous ashe deals with the ignorant prattling ofhis hosts. McClendon fails to capitalize on theinherent humor of the situation. It isestablished that the vacationers arewell-educated and have distinctpersonalities, yet they embody deer-in-the-headlights catatonia for most of theplay, further anaesthetized by endlesspourings of wine. Even when thesecond act turns into a pseudo debateon the existence of God—pittingHumphrey’s raging atheism againstassertions of the four about salvation—it is reduced to personality-lessacademic bantering. Under McClendon’s guidance, thiswould have been a perfect situation forthe members of the quartet to enliventhe proceedings. Yet they are ultimatelydefeated. The most moving momentcomes when Radford’s Kate timidlyasks, “Doesn’t it frighten you:nothingness?”
The show’s ending underscores themystery aspect of this one-sidedaffair. After all, the whole exercise isbased on the premise that Humphrey iswho he claims to be and that his life istruly in danger from powerful peoplewho can’t afford to have him revealwhat he knows. Mercifully, theproduction’s ending provides an answerto that mystery.
March 24, 2014
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The current, handsome revival at A NoiseWithin, directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott,captures the fripperies of the household wellenough (in large measure thanks to AngelaBalogh Calin’s divinely over-the-top costumes).And in Freddy Douglas’s Tartuffe they have aneminently sinister Rasputin, who teeterstantalizingly on the edge between saint andcharlatan. But with an Orgon (Geoff Elliott)tippy-toeing around in a huge Groucho mustacheand metallic eyeglasses that might’ve belonged toRue McClanahan during the Golden Girls years,and farcical biz that keeps sending the characterstripping over each other, the guts are excisedfrom the drama, pure and simple. A Noise Within’s Tartuffe is far from the firstto interpret Orgon as a blithering idiot and tolitter the stage with pratfalls. But that fact doesn’tmake it any easier to witness.
March 24, 2014
Feb. 15–May 24. 3352 East Foothill Blvd.,Pasadena. See ANW website for repertoryschedule. $54‐66. (626) 356‐3100.
www.ANoiseWithin.org
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Top GirlsAntaeus Theatre Company
Reviewed by Travis Michael Holder
Kimiko Gelman and Karianne FlaathenPhoto by Geoffrey Wade
Written in 1982 when the concerns of thefeminist movement and the role of women insociety were often at their most controversial—and, at times, the most overstated and sometimeseven abrasive—Caryl Churchill’s absurdisttheatrical polemic might seem a tad shopwornthree decades later. In less-skilled hands thanthose of director Cameron Watson and thevenerable members of Antaeus TheatreCompany, today Top Girls might have stayed onthe bottom. Instead, however, the production isvital, sometimes disturbing, and totally smashing. Churchill bursts through the issues of women’sright by presenting women through the agesdealing with all the standard topics facing those
3/25/2014 Theater Reviews
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Dr., Beverly Hills (in the parkingstructure at the back of thecampus of Beverly Hills HighSchool, enter at north end ofcampus, free parking.) Thu‐Sat8pm, Sun 2pm. $24‐26. (310) 364‐0535
www.Theatre40.org
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A Man of NoImportanceTorrance Theatre Company
Reviewed by Dany Margolies
David McGee and Mark TorresoPhoto by Brad LaVerne
“A movie is cold comfort for a manwho loves the theater,” says AlfieByrne, this musical’s hero. That prettymuch sets the tone for the character andfor this show. Its major themes will bethe making of art and admitting who weare. And the art here will be made byactors who, from star to supportingplayer, could be working in Hollywoodbut chose to be onstage in Torrance. With book by Terrence McNally(based on the 1964 film written byBarry Devlin), music by StephenFlaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, thisshow shares a pedigree with theexpansive Ragtime. Importance is moreof a chamber piece than its sister is,telling a smaller story with fewercharacters. However, it packs no less ofa punch.
In it, Alfie (Mark Torreso) is a middle-aged bus conductor in 1960s Dublin.He may have no importance, but he haspoetry in his heart and a passion for thewriting of Oscar Wilde. What he reallywants to do, though, is direct. He putson Wilde’s plays in the social hall of St.Imelda’s Church, his troupe composedof the bus riders he tends to every day. Alfie lives with his sister Lily (AmyGlinskas), who regrets having sacrificed
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TalhotblondRuskin Group Theatre
Reviewed by Julio Martinez
Julia Arian, Kathleen O'Grady,and Mark Rimer
Photo by Ed Krieger
Playwright Kathrine Bates bases thisworld premiere on the true story ofmiddle-aged factory worker ThomasMontgomery’s deranged, murderousInternet chatroom obsession with asupposed teenage girl—as chronicledin Barbara Schroeder’s 2009 filmdocumentary, talhotblond. Since allthe tawdry, cold-blooded facts of thiscase have been well-chronicled, it isexpected that Bates would imbue herplay with insights that go beyond themere events leading up to the 2006murder of Montgomery’s 22-year-oldco-worker and Internet rival for thisprovocative teen’s online affections.As realized by helmer Beverly Olevinand a struggling ensemble, Bates’sstraight-ahead dramatic throughlineoffers no intriguing, revelatory twistsor turns; it simply gets there. The 90-minute intermissionlesspiece establishes that 47-year-oldThomas (Mark Rimer) and factoryoffice-mate/part-time college studentAlan (John-Paul Lavoisier, alternatingwith Lane Compton) enjoy an amiableworkplace relationship, sharing amutual attraction to online gamingand casual Internet chatroomdistractions to relieve the boredom ofthe job. Interjecting himself into mixis sarcastic young office clerk Pete(Oscar Cain Rodriguez). When onlinehottie Jennie (Erin Elizabeth Patrick),AKA talhotblond, insinuates herpresence onto his screen andeventually into his psyche,emotionally fragile Thomas’s civilfaçade begins to crumble.
Rimer works hard at bringing to life
ambitious enough to want equal footing in ourstill male-dominated society. These includeageism and an equal place in the workplacesomewhere below a shattered glass ceiling, theexpectations of motherhood versus the desire forcareer, and what are perceived as the standardopportunities afforded that half of our society,who only over the last 95 years have been able tovote. The first attention-grabbing farcical scene inChurchill’s classic begins in a posh Londonrestaurant, where Marlene (Sally Hughes), the oneconsistent character throughout the play and awoman who has abandoned her child for a careerin business, has invited several time-travelinghistorical women to sup and get plastered enoughto tell the sorrowful stories of their individualstruggles in a man’s world. Gathered are Pope Joan (Elizabeth Swain) who,disguised as a man, is said to have been pontifffrom 854 to 856 AD before her unplannedpregnancy outed her deception; Lady Nijo(Kimiko Gelman), grossly mistreated 13th-century mistress to the emperor of Japan and latera Buddhist nun; 19th-century English explorerand strong-willed naturalist Isabela Bird(Karianne Flaathen); Dull Gret (Abigail Marks), aBrunhilde-like peasant from Flemish folklore,said to have led an army of women to pillageHell; and the long-enduring Patient Griselda(Shannon Lee Clair) from Chaucer’s CanterburyTales, whose husband tests her loyalty in a seriesof bizarre torments based upon the Book of Job.
Although Hughes plays Marlene throughout,each other actor plays several characters,including the employees and clients of Top Girls,an old-style 1980s employment agency managedby Marlene. These include Swain as Louise, anolder applicant who wants a change after manyyears of being ignored for her loyalty on one job;Flaathen as Mrs. Kidd, the pleading wife of a manoverlooked for promotion; and AlexandraGoodman as Shona, a job seeker whoseimpressive résumé proves to be a fraud. Yet it isthe intertwining story of Marlene’s dimwittedabandoned daughter Angie (Marks) and her badlydefeated estranged sister Joyce (Flaathen), whoraised the troubled child as her own, that tugs thehardest at our heartstrings. This Magnificent Seven of exquisitelydetermined actors (all double-cast with whatsurely in Antaeus tradition are seven magnificentothers) makes Churchill’s old warhorse come tolife without a glitch. Flaathen is particularlymemorable as Joyce, who, fulfilling what is surelyone bravely risky directorial decision, is at onepoint left alone onstage, sitting quietly at a table,silently contemplating how her life sucks for a farlonger time than anyone else would deemcomfortable. Still, the truly indelible performanceis by Marks as the sweetly lost and desperatelyneedy Angie, falling somewhere betweenChaplin’s Tramp and Bette Davis as Baby Jane,bringing to haunting fruition a character you wantto climb onstage and comfort. Still, the most apparent contributor to thesuccess of this production and the guy whoclearly encouraged this exceptional ensemble castto soar is Watson, whose sturdy yet diaphanous,