Archive for the Reviews Category
Originally published at http://www.fresnobeehive.com on November 18, 2009.
Not that I’d ever want to disparage the personal hygiene of the hard-working cast members in Theatre Ventoux’s “12 Angry Men,” but thanks to director Lisa Taber’s intimate staging and the play’s evocative description of the cramped and heated quarters in this theater classic, I felt as if I were close enough to smell each and every one. This is less a trip to the theater than an actual camping-out experience in the jury room. I felt as if I’d been led into the chamber and told to crouch against the wall just before the jury arrived to begin deliberations.
Such intimacy works wonderfully for this stern, earnest play. It’s one thing to watch “12 Angry Men” it in a large, proscenium theater sitting a fair distance from the stage. It’s another to be almost on top of the actors.
This is a scrappy, bare production, but it also has a sense of authority to it — and I’m impressed with the preparation of the actors. For long stretches of the show, I felt as if I was eavesdropping on real conversations, which is a tribute to the acting and direction.
The production is definitely from a different era, as evidenced by the all-male jury, but there’s no whiff of nostalgia here. You could walk into almost any jury room today and find many of the same dynamics at work. With the majority of the jury quick to condemn the accused in the case, one lone holdout (played with a resonant, understated bravado by David P. Otero) encourages an exploration of the evidence and the concept of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
While the play (adapted by Sherman Sergel from the original teleplay by Reginald Rose) is not the most subtle dramatic creation — there’s a predictably to the story arc that feels almost forced — there’s almost something incredibly textured and layered about the details of the plot. Ambiguity reigns here. No real smoking gun is produced. Instead, we think about doubt — and how much we’d be able to tolerate when a man’s life is at stake.
The ensemble cast boasts some strong performances, including Greg Taber as an immigrant juror, Hal H. Bolen as the anemic foreman, Jaguar Bennett as a fastidious participant, and Jim Tuck as the “angry man.” There are times when the character “types” get a little stilted, such as Patrick Allan Tromborg’s gruff juror, and Tuck’s final moments are overplayed. But there’s a sincerity to the production, and an enveloping drama, that carries the audience through any rough spots. “12 Angry Men” is sobering and powerful.
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Tonight marked the opening of Theatre Ventoux’s fourth show in the form of a madman named LEAR. An adaptation of Shakespeare’s KING LEAR, this play attacks the language and numerous plot lines with a hunger that is infectious to the audience. At the beginning of the play there is no doubt that Theatre Ventoux intends to tell you a story, which they accomplish with flair.
The tale of a powerful king that relies on the ‘blood is thicker than water’ mentality, who allows his power and ego to blind him to the truth, flies across the stage at the Cal Arts Academy, Severance stage. With a modern feel that is both here and now and classical, a theme Ventoux has perfected in this author’s humble opinion, this old tale is brought up to date with music, costumes and lighting. An almost bare stage allows the actors the opportunity to tell the story through actions and words. The director, Greg Taber, is to be applauded for the attention to detail in each actor expressing intent whether it be through an all cast chaotic movement or a cold glare from one of Lear’s daughters.
Sinister and sexy versus innocence and truth. The game board, that is present on stage throughout the production, serves as a potent tool for those characters who truly play a game with Lear. This cast is talented in handling the language and the emotional complexities this story demands. The story is tragic, and not because of the high body count at the end of the play, but because the deceit and the hunger for power causes more than one character to go into a state of disillusion and madness.
I, for one, greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication these actors put out there on that stage tonight. Seeing new depths to actors that I have not seen before was exciting and inspiring.
The show will be performing thru April 11th. Friday and Saturday night at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. Please support our local theatre community and see this enjoyable production.
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As I was talking about how much I enjoyed Theatre Ventoux’s production of King Lear, someone asked if it was a period piece or set in the present day. The answer is both and neither. True to the original language, the production is laced with “Art thous” and other expected Shakespearean what have yous. The dress is of the present-day variety, but not distractingly so. The actors’ basic white dress shirts and neckties mirror the timelessness of Shakespeare’s themes (I concede that Shakespeare’s themes are even more timeless than neckties, but you get the idea). The deep sorrows and the arguments between family and friends are phenomena that everyone has experienced at some time, in some capacity.
The play starts as The Boy (Joshua Taber) requests, “Tell me a story.” The story at hand begins with King Lear (powerfully and emotionally played by Tom Janecek) giving out land to his three daughters: Goneril (the eldest, smirkily played by Lisa Taber), Regan (the middle-child, a femme fatal-ish Michelle Bonanno), and Cordelia (a youthfully innocent Melissa Geston). The eldest two are married to Albany (Michael Roberston) and Cornwall (Ricci Mazzuca), while the young Cordelia has yet to choose from her two suitors, Edmond and Edgar (two of the most intriguing characters in the play, I thought, as played by Evan Ericsen and Steve Torres, respectively), sons of Gloucester (a heartbreakingly betrayed Hal H. Bolen, II). The eldest daughter Gonderil is assisted by her servant Oswald. Though Oswald is traditionally a man’s role, Carolyn Robertson offers an Oswald whose trustworthy guise sinisterly fades into ruthless dedication. I think what I like most about this play was the way Theatre Ventoux amplified the fact that some of the most dangerous people in the play are those who seemed to be just part of the background in the beginning. That said, King Lear’s problems don’t get lost in the shuffle. The ensemble of characters spends much of the play choosing sides, back stabbing, et cetera in an escapade in which, just as you think you have a handle on who everyone is and what all their motivations and loyalties are, they start dying off… Fortunately, the dark entanglement is balanced by a wise Fool (Jessica Reedy). Part Harpo Marx, part philosophy professor, Reedy offers a Fool that comforts and motivates both the King and the audience itself.Theatre Ventoux has honed a polished artistic style characterized by entrancing lighting, well-chosen mood music, and fantastic acting. Director Greg Taber has helped Theatre Ventoux remain true to this style throughout King Lear. “I cannot be who I was then,” the song played at the beginning of the play professed. This is obviously true for the characters in the play, but I couldn’t help feeling as though, after seeing this show, I wasn’t quite the same as I was then (before the show, that is), too - in a very good way. Be sure to experience Theatre Ventoux’s King Lear at the California Arts Academy/Severance Building (in the Tower District - 1401 N Wishon, at Floradora) on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm through April 12, and on Sunday, April 6 at 2pm. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors.
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In its short tenure, Theatre Ventoux has elevated the Fresno theater scene by producing challenging fare. From the alluring depravity of “This Flattering Glass” (a heavily reworked adaptation of “Richard II”) to the cerebral antics of “Childe Byron” (told from the point of view of the poet’s daughter), the productions have been insightful, provocative and — most important — distinctively bold examples of storytelling.
The company’s current production, “Lear,” does not reach this level. It struggles not only in terms of voice and vision but also in just the basics of conveying the storyline of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” The heavily truncated text (the show is over in little more than a brisk two hours, including an intermission) leaves big gaps in the narrative that, frankly, left the remaining plot extremely hard for me to follow.
And while the production tries for a taste of decadence — one of Lear’s daughters, Regan, walks around in leatherlike tights and knee-high black boots in a look that could be described as trollop meets princess — I can’t help but feel that this “Lear” would like to be a great deal bloodier, sexier and stormier than it turns out.Director Gregory Taber envisions the production as a literal storytelling exercise. In a prologue, what appears to be a kindly grandfather figure (Tom Janecek, who will go on to play Lear), prepares to tell a tale to a young boy. Suddenly the entire cast appears, each one pacing about the room in circles and chanting, “Tell us a story.” It is an interesting device, and at least it is strongly theatrical, but the concept in relation to the play is lost on me. Couldn’t any of Shakespeare’s plays start in such a way? Couldn’t any play start in such a way?Janecek is well-cast physically as Lear, and there are times that you can really connect to this old man’s frustrations and mental deterioration. (The moment when he glimpses his beloved daughter Cordelia late in the play and thinks her a ghost has a lot of emotional pull — one of the few times in this production when the words and action on stage really leap to life.) But the character’s descent into madness is never very affecting, and Janecek comes across more as listless than anguished.It’s obvious that Taber likes to mix things up a bit, as evidenced by casting Carolyn Robertson against type and gender as the devious Oswald, a steward that roughs people up. (It didn’t really work for me; Robertson still seems too nice.) Lisa Taber and Michelle Bonanno, as Lear’s two “bad” daughters, have some strong moments, and David P. Otero’s Kent is a solid depiction of loyalty. Curiously, the play’s subplot involving fueding brothers (a vigorous Steve Torres as the good-boy Edgar and a scowling Evan Ericsen as the aggressively nasty Edmund) has a lot more narrative punch in Gregory Taber’s truncated script than the main story of Lear and his three daughters, of whom Cordelia remains very sketchy in this version. (I never figured out where the King of France went: Doesn’t that character play a crucial role in Cordelia’s story?)Visually, the production needs a jolt. On the positive side, Chris Campbell’s lighting design in the Severance space evokes an appropriately stormy feel. But the beige carpet and rudimentary set, combined with the cast’s eclectic modern dress, does little to give us a sense of setting or attitude. This is the story of a community torn apart by war and back stabbing, yet very little in the production design accentuates this theme.Again, Theatre Ventoux is constantly stretching, and that’s a good thing. It gets credit for tackling a tough play head-on, to be sure, and there are some fine individual moments, but this will not go down in my book as one of company’s more successful productions.
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