If there’s anything at which the Prenzie Players excel - and the theatre group excels at quite a few things - it’s the ability to convey the meaning of Shakespeare’s words to those who may have trouble following the dialogue and, therefore, the plot. (I.e. me.)  And that strength is all the more important in the Prenzies’ current undertaking, Troilus & Cressida.  While watching the opening-night performance, I rarely understood what exactly was going on by way of what was said. But thanks to the passion behind how it was said, I was neither bored nor disinterested.

Long-considered impossible to stage, Troilus & Cressida takes place in the later years of the Trojan War.  Achilles (Steve Quartell), the Greeks’ hero, has removed himself from battle, preferring to spend his days with his lover, Patroclus (Cole McFarren), and enjoying a love-affair-through-letters with the daughter of Priam (Matt Moody), the king of Troy.  Priam and Agamemnon (Patrick Flaherty) endeavor to bring Achilles and the Trojans’ hero, Hector (David Furness), face-to-face on the battlefield - a plan that, for the Greeks, involves a scheme to first pair Ajax (Matt Mercer) against Hector, enticing Achilles back into action.

While their names make up the title of the play, the story of Troilus (Andy Koski) and Cressida (Jaci Entwisle) makes up but a fraction of its telling.  This is unfortunate, however, as their storyline - a romance that ends with the handing over of Cressida to the Greeks - is the clearest of any in Shakespeare’s script.

Troilus & Cressida is a theatrically complicated twist of time, a confusing back-and-forth between the Greeks and Trojans, with the audience witness to events that take place in two locations simultaneously.  Thankfully, to make the chronology of events clearer, director Maggie Woolley cleverly incorporates a radio announcement with the time of day at the top of the opening act (with the Trojans), and then does so again at the top of the second act, starting the same day over again (with the Greeks).

Helping to visibly distinguish the two warring sides within her peach color palette, Woolley and fellow costume designer Cait Bodenbender dress the characters in distinct patterns and levels of finery.  The Trojans wear leather armor, fine suits, and even underwear meant to convey a greater wealth than the Greeks, who are clothed in camouflage pants.

Woolley has also assembled a cast of committed actors who seem to hold nothing back either physically or emotionally; space limitations prevent me from mentioning each, though every actor deserves accolades.  Of particular note: Quartell offers a balance of cockiness and disinterest; Furness presents the heroic Hector as both strong and admirable, and displays a caliber of acting ability that’s equally admirable; McFarren (who also portrays Paris) is believably enamored with Quartell’s Achilles; Entwisle creates a likable Cressida in a script that makes that a tough task; Denise Yoder seems completely comfortable with the language and physical representation of Pandarus; and Moody, as one of the Myrmidons, well-embodies the play’s perception of the Greeks as lowbrow. (Moody’s ad-libbed lines, however, are all-too-often delivered louder than the script’s actual dialogue.)

While each actor seems to know exactly what his or her character is saying, none seem as fluent with the language as J.C. Luxton, who delivers Ulysses’ lines as if this were the way Luxton actually spoke in daily life.  He’s also not tripped up by rhymes, which do affect the naturalistic cadences of some of the other actors.

And I would be remiss not to set Stephanie Burrough apart from the others.  Her Helen of Troy is good, but her camp whore, Thersites, is amazing.  With loose and brazen physical movements, she brings humor to a character who has led a humorless life.  It’s fun to watch from the audience, but Thersites’ humor is also clearly a coping mechanism for the character, and that Burrough is able to present it as one is a testament to her strength as an actress.

I am somewhat relieved to say, based on my conversations with others, that I was not the only one who struggled to understand the plot of Troilus & Cressida.  I think that’s Shakespeare’s fault.  It’s to the Prenzie Players’ credit, though, that I was not bored, and actually quite enjoyed watching the show… despite my confusion.

For more information, visit PrenziePlayers.com.

Posted: March 22nd, 2010 under Television.
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If there’s one word I’d use to best describe Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s current production, it would be “nice.” And while that can be taken as an unflattering adjective, for The O’Conner Girls I mean it as a positive one; I left the opening-night performance with a smile on my face, one awash with the sweet nostalgia and dash of humor that put it there.

The O’Conner Girls takes place over the course of two days, during which twin sisters Martha (Lisa Kahn) and Liz (Pamela Crouch) - having just buried their father - are now helping their mother, Sara (Jan Golz), clean out the house. Martha spent the last year taking care of her father, losing sleep along with any semblance of a personal life. Liz did her part by sending money home, even after losing her husband and her job. Now, however, Sara is ready to sell the family home and head off to Europe, and The O’Conner Girls finds the three women sharing these and other secrets with one another, secrets which end up changing their lives.

Written by Katie Forgette, the script does not offer new ideas or creative plotlines. Instead, its strength is in its realistic dialogue. Rather than delivering the pretentious, overly dramatic lines you often find in weaker scripts, or the exquisitely poetic but lofty monologues of stronger plays, these characters speak as real people do. The effect created is like a slice of life, where it’s easier to believe we’re actually looking in on a real family in a real situation, rather than something staged.

In her directorial debut at Playcrafters, Susan Zelnio crafts a production that embraces that sense of realism, as do her leads. Golz has a way of taking lines that may not have been written with humor and delivering them with an inflection that creates a bit of off-the-cuff bit, slightly sarcastic fun. Kahn offers a sweetly sincere performance, adding just enough hints at Martha’s being overburdened and tired; her facial expressions are a bit overdone when simply reacting to others, but this is arguably the most unaffected performance I’ve yet seen from Kahn. The same could be said of Crouch (although her performance in the Harrison Hilltop Theatre’s Steel Magnolias, also featuring Kahn, was quite enjoyable). In past shows, I’ve seen Crouch overdo her performances, but here it was refreshing to see her let the lines simply flow, rather than using them to force a character.

Don Faust portrays Dr. David Stevens, a longtime family friend and secret love interest of Martha, and seems to be overly aware of the audience, often delivering his gestures toward those watching the play rather than those performing in it. As in previous productions in which I’ve seen him (most notably Harrison Hilltop’s The Graduate), it’s apparent that Faust likes to perform and enjoys pleasing an audience. Here, however, his tendency to play to the audience is a distraction, although - as it’s confined to his body language -at least it’s a minor one; Faust’s line deliveries project a more honest nature, and make his Dr. Stevens a simple, likable man.

It’s Judy Luster as Aunt Martha, however, who almost steals the show. Luster doesn’t seem to be afraid to play things big - from dramatic highs and lows in inflection to uninhibited physical movement - yet also has the talent to not allow her performance to move into caricature, keeping it believable. And she’s just so darn cute! She had me wishing her Martha was my aunt, too.

Scenically, The O’Conner Girls marks the first play I’ve seen at Playcrafters where the performers are not forced to pantomime opening a downstage door. (I loathe seeing actors pretend to turn a doorknob or slide open a window that is not actually there, especially when it’s the only set piece they and the audience are forced to imagine.) For this production, Zelnio, who also serves as set designer, chose to include a hinged decorative board (and actual knob) to represent a full door without blocking anyone’s view. It’s such a clever piece that I actually took a moment to marvel at it… only to be disappointed when, during its first usage, Golz closed the door and reached up to flip on a pretend light switch. Sigh.

As it concerns an Irish Catholic family, The O’Conner Girls would seem an appropriate production for the days surrounding St. Patrick’s Day. Yet while, for me, it’s preferable to a mug of green beer, it doesn’t matter that Playcrafters chose to stage this play during the holiday - this production would be just as nice any time of the year.

For more information and tickets, call (309) 762-0330 or visit Playcrafters.com.

Posted: March 15th, 2010 under Theater.
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