The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., this season is presenting three one-act plays by Noel Coward under the title "Brief Encounters." Coward definitely falls within the boundaries of the Shaw's original mandate to present plays written during the lifetime of George Bernard Shaw. It is interesting to attempt to link the three plays. What do they have in common, except that they are all inspired by brief moments in time?
The first play, "Still Life," is the longest and most involved. Starring Deborah Hay as Laura and Patrick Galligan as Alec, it takes place in a coffee shop of the Milford Junction Railway Station in 1936.
The setting is spectacular, all but overshadowing acting and storyline. In the middle of the stage is a revolving door through which everyone constantly enters and exits. Above it is a large clock that shows the changing time.
A woman enters the coffee shop looking for water. There is a piece of soot lodged in her eye. A man sitting at a nearby table declares he is a doctor and comes to her aid. The whirlwind romance thus begins.
They cannot stay away from each other, though both are married, and so the romance continues until guilt rears its ugly head and things come crashing down -- though it takes a long time, too long, for the inevitable to happen. The play seems to come to an end several times and then continues. "Still Life" is the most serious of the three plays.
The second play, "We Were Dancing," is more of a comedy. It too features a brief romance that doesn't last. There is dancing and singing in this play, starring Hay and Galligan as a couple who meet on the dance floor and fall magically, instantaneously, hopelessly in love.
Louise tells her husband of her newfound love -- so new that they don't even know each other's names! Her husband supports her wish to go to Australia with her newfound love. Once the moonlight and magic vanishes, so does the love affair.
The third play, "Hands Across the Sea," takes an entirely different tone. There is no brief romance, only mistaken identities.
The acting, fast-paced directing and set design shine in all three plays. "Brief Encounters" continues at the Festival Theatre through Oct. 24.
"Born Yesterday" takes place in Washington, D.C., in 1945. The set depicts an extravagant hotel room. It is a very workable set, complete with a staircase and second story where actors can enter and exit.
It is not only set design that is excellent here, so is acting, direction by Neil Munro, and just about everything else. Garson Kanin started writing "Born Yesterday" near the end of World War II because he was disgusted by the war profiteering in Washington. Kanin took this theme, which is relevant to any time period, and wrote a play that at times passes as a comedy.
Central to the plot is Harry Brock (Thom Marriott), a junk dealer who has gotten rich on the war but hopes to grow even richer by way of a deal with a corrupt senator. Harry's longtime mistress, quintessential dumb blonde Billie Dawn (Deborah Hay), is used by Harry and his cohorts, not just for sexual favors but also for the heart of their corrupt scheme. If something is a little shady, just sign it over to Billie. She won't have the sense to know any better and will sign anything. After all, Harry has bought her two mink coats, for which she is eternally grateful.
Then something unexpected happens. Harry decides that Billie needs to get educated, so he hires Paul Verrall (Gray Powell), a writer for a liberal magazine, to do just that. It turns out that Billie isn't so dumb after all. She stops signing Harry's papers after falling in love with Verrall, putting all of Harry's well-planned enterprises in jeopardy.
Hay steals the show with her enthusiasm, movements and speech -- squeals and all. Marriott is most convincing. When he isn't using Billie as a punching bag, there emerges a bit of tenderness. He really loves her, but doesn't want to hurt their relationship with marriage, he contends.
"Born Yesterday," which is more than 60 years old, is relevant today or any day. It is a fun production and superbly done. "Born Yesterday" remains on stage at the Festival Theatre until Nov. 1.
George Bernard Shaw's "In Good King Charles's Golden Days" is playing at the Shaw Festival's intimate Court House Theatre until Oct. 9. It is one of the playwright's later plays, completed when he was 83.
"In Good King Charles's Golden Days" is not action-packed. A group of very diverse people come together at Sir Isaac Newton's house. They are very famous historical figures with much to say -- King Charles; George Fox, the founder of the Quakers; painter Sir Godfrey Kneller; the king's brother James, Duke of York; Queen Catherine of Braganza; and other less-known characters, such as the king's mistresses.
Mary Haney stands out as Charles' housekeeper Mrs. Basham. Benedict Campbell is excellent as King Charles II. George Fox is played by Ric Reid.
The play is extremely wordy and long -- three hours, including two intermissions. There is little movement, except for an old-fashioned fight between two characters at the end of Act I, which continues into Act II. And there is no real character development. There are, however, ideas, lots and lots of ideas, some not entirely relevant to today's society.
At the Royal George Theatre, the Shaw Festival is presenting Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical "Sunday in the Park with George." George is French Impressionist painter Georges Seurat (1859-1891), and the storyline refers to his time spent in the park painting his masterpiece "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." The Impressionists were known to paint "en plein air," or outdoors, and were able to do so only because at the time someone learned how to put paint in a tube.
Everything about this production is top notch. It is extremely visual -- you feel as if you have entered Seurat's painting. It is pure Sondheim, with theme and music beyond your usual musical theater offering. The music at times sounds atonal, but carries the storyline often better than the lyrics or dialog.
The artist's struggles are clearly portrayed. He is so consumed with his work that he shuts out the rest of the world -- even his newborn son. He sold not one painting in his lifetime, yet he continued to work and constantly tried to do something no one else had done.
Steven Sutcliffe is excellent as George, as is Julie Martell as his mistress and mother of his child.
Act II jumps ahead a hundred years, and we meet Seurat's great-grandson, also an artist. The Shaw uses the work of Bill Viola, a well-known contemporary video artist whose work explores light and shadow. The modern George is also consumed with his work and searching for the new.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | June 23 2009 |