Eloquent Period Piece Is an Endurance Test
Theo-Ubique Cabaret Theatre presents |
The Lady’s Not For Burning |
Written by Christopher Fry Directed by Fred Anzevino at No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood (map) through October 31 | tickets: $25 | more info |
Reviewed by Keith Ecker
Watching Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s production of The Lady’s Not for Burning is like a marathon for your mind. For a comedy, the play is incredibly dense. Written in Shakespearean-style prose, the language is beautifully ornate at times while confusingly verbose at others. The whole thing in the end feels like a riddle, a riddle that goes on and on for two-and-a-half hours.
It is this length that serves as the production’s greatest hindrance. The cast is confident and spot on with their comedic timing. The staging is economic given the awkwardly shaped theater space. You would think that such skillful acting and direction would be able to sustain a play. And although The Lady’s Not for Burning charges out of the gate, it eventually loses steam and limps its way to its conclusion.
Written by Christopher Fry in 1948, the play takes place in the Middle Ages, incorporating period style dress and speech. As Arthur Miller would later do with The Crucible, Fry touches on themes relevant to post-World War II society, including the Red Scare. However, unlike The Crucible, The Lady’s Not for Burning is a comedy, and so it uses satire to address these heavy social issues. Unfortunately, the language and plot are so heavy themselves that these social commentaries get lost within the thick of the play.
To simplify it as much as possible, the play is about a soldier (Layne Manzer) who encourages the mayor (J. Preddie Predmore) to execute him by hanging. Conversely, there is an alleged witch (Jenny Lamb) who wants to live. The two have long conversations about their predicaments, which leads to a blossoming love.
There is of course much more to the story than this. Why else would it stretch on for so long? The problem is the other elements of the story are inconsequential. In fact, it’s unclear as to what purpose the other characters serve other than to occupy space and battle wits with one another for humor’s sake.
And humor is the highlight of the play. Even if the piece becomes crushed under its own weight, the humor adds some much-needed levity.
As mentioned, the acting is superb. Predmore plays the mayor with a wonderful mix of overconfidence and idiocy. Manzer embodies the soldier’s sardonic personality, and Drew Longo, as both the depressed chaplain and the town drunk, proves himself to be a dynamic actor and effective clown.
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Director Fred Anzevino, who is also the artistic director of Theo Ubique, characterizes The Lady’s Not for Burning as a musical without song or music. While I can understand the sentiment behind the statement, the play is more akin to an epic poem, emphasis on the epic. There is no denying that there is some fine writing here. The descriptions are clever and unique. The imagery painted through Fry’s words is vibrant. But unfortunately, it is this same diction that serves to disconnect the audience from the play. While interesting sentence structure, word choice and figurative language may be pleasant, coherency should be the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, the writing at times impedes understanding.
I’m not sure what instrument from the director’s toolbox could have been employed to help this play. There is little to no downtime between scenes, so there isn’t much that can be whittled away to shorten the piece. In the end, there’s a lot of talent at work here, and there is a lot of potential in the commentary, especially in the play’s first half. But as we stretch into the third act, our patience is tested, and we begin watching our watches rather than the stage.
Rating: ★★½ |
Filed under: 2010 Reviews, Keith Ecker, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre | Tagged: Adam Kander, Andrew J. Pond, Arthur Miller, Ben Mason, Christopher Fry, David Heimann, David Weiss, Drew Longo, Eric Martin, Ethan Deppe, Fred Anzevino, J. Preddie Predmore, Jeff Preddie Predmore, Jenny Lamb, Justin Goh, Keith Ecker, Layne Manzer, Martha Hudak, Nate Crawford, No Exit Cafe, Rachael Holiday, Rob Dorn, Sonja Field, Susan Fay, Teresa Hamm, The Crucible, The Ladys Not For Burning, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre | 1 Comment »