SAINT JOAN

Written by Bernard Shaw

Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Through June 10, 2018

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

261 West 47th Street

(212-239-6200), www.saintjoanbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Shaw’s Saint Joan in the best of productions is ponderous and lugubrious. And in the worst-case scenario, it can be like a bad college production with poor direction, acting of all different styles and no cohesion. Well, here we are, folks. What is most mystifying about this production is the direction of Daniel Sullivan, a brilliant director with occasional misfires. Last year at this same time, he directed Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes for the Manhattan Theatre Club with glorious results; fresh, crisp, and razor sharp. This time around everything is stale, wilted and tiresome

The proceedings aren’t made any easier by the mere fact of Bernard Shaw’s verbose text. It is so bogged down by repetition, you need a red pencil for major editing. Starting in 1429 in Vaucouleurs (in Northeastern France), the French have been at war with England for over 90 years and have been severely defeated, demoralized, and depleted. On top of it all, France hasn’t had a king for over 10 years, and a lot of the cities have been governed under British rule.

It is at this point that Joan (Condola Rashad), also known as “the Maid,” is presented to the squire of her province, Robert de Baudricort (Patrick Page), stating that the voices of St. Margaret and St. Catherine have spoken to her to lead an army against England. All she needs is a horse and a suit of armor to lead the men into battle. When presented with the obstacles in front of her, she states that it doesn’t matter, for she has God on her side.

Claiming victories and proving victorious, thus earning the respect of the men in her command, her next mission is to find The Dauphin, Charles VII, known as Charlie (Adam Chanler-Berat) and crowning him King of France. Charles has his own problems; he is a spineless twit, who gets no respect and just wants to be left alone and remain the nothing that he is. Joan persists and eventually crowns him as the next king.

Being vexed by Joan’s rising popularity and victories, the Earl of Warwick (Jack Davenport) wants her burned at the stake as a heretic, thus bribing the French Catholic Church to bring her in and charging her with sedition. The Bishop of Beauvais, Cauchon (Walter Bobbie), has some moral misgivings about prosecuting her. But due to her strong willfulness and refusing to renounce her voices and God, and her refusal to dress as a woman instead of a soldier, in a mock trial stacked against her, Joan signs her own death warrant and is burned at the stake. As history, this is a glorious tale of the hypocrisy of church and state. As written by Bernard Shaw and the unnecessary 20-minute epilogue that follows, it is an interminable evening.

Adding to the production’s misfires is Condola Rashad as Joan. Ms. Rashad is a lovely young actress, and one of the best of her generation. She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and deserved to win for each of her performances. The problem here is Joan is supposed to be a simple peasant girl whose motivations are clearly directed by the voices she hears. She is an innocent trapped by her own victories and strongheadedness. Ms. Rashad is by no means simple in any way, her actions seem of her own doing rather than the voices she hears, thus causing a major and tragic flaw to the balance of the play.

As for the rest of the cast, renowned as they are: Patrick Page, Walter Bobbie, Daniel Sunjata, John Glover, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jack Davenport are all doing various degrees of hamming. From Mr. Page’s Shakespearean intonations to Mr. Davenport’s unnecessary comedic buffoonery, each brings a different style from 1400s France to 2018. Wasn’t Mr. Sullivan out there watching the ensuing proceedings? Isn’t he supposed to bring them together and place them all on the same page?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 30, 2018
Reviewed at April 27, 2018 press performance.

‘SAINT JOAN’: Condola Rashad. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Condola Rashad & Daniel Sunjata. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Adam Chanler-Berat. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Jack Davenport. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Walter Bobbie. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: John Glover. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Patrick Page. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SAINT JOAN’: Adam Chanler-Berat & Condola Rashad. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘Saint Joan’: Shaw revival misses the mark appeared first on StageZine.

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf, Chris Cooper & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2
Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Sam Gold
Through July 23, 2017
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.DollsHousePart2.com

By David NouNou

In 1879, Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House where in the end, Nora Helmer slams the door of her house, leaves her husband and her children and walks away from a marriage that she felt was her prison. Quite remarkable for its day for a woman with no means of support to take such action. In 2017, Lucas Hnath has written A Doll’s House, Part 2 in which Nora comes back knocking on the door of the house she walked out of 15 years ago.

Nora (Laurie Metcalf) has come back and is greeted by Anne Marie (Jayne Houdyshell), the family nanny and housemaid. It’s an awkward moment but soon turns into hilarity at every turn, thanks to Mr. Hnath’s brilliant writing. Nora has not come to apologize or be forgiven for walking out on everyone but has come back to get something she wasn’t given 15 years earlier.

Nora has done very well for herself. She has become a successful female writer with plenty of money and lovers along the way. Nora has written many books under a pseudonym advocating freedom for women who feel shackled by the restraints and chains of their marriage by divorcing their husbands and starting a new life. In the process, she has provoked a judge who has found her real identity and is going to expose her for the sham that she is.

Thus her reason for her appearance at her husband’s doorstep. Torvald Helmer (Chris Cooper) never filed the divorce papers as he promised Nora he would. People assumed when she left that she was sick, went to a sanitarium and died. People felt sorry for Thorvald, his reputation at the bank strengthened and he never bothered to correct anyone.

The wheels are set in motion for what is to be the thrill ride of the theatrical season. Nora not only left Torvald and Anne Marie, but she also left behind a young daughter, Emmy (Condola Rashad), who has grown up into a young lovely woman. Like her mother, she is strong-willed; unlike her mother, she wants to get married to the man she is engaged to and wants to be enslaved by the man she loves. In this case, Nora cannot see Emmy as an ally to get her divorce.

What is absolutely astounding is how Mr. Hnath has taken Ibsen’s characters and given them new and far more complicated lives than Ibsen would have ever imagined. There are so many sides to align with, but the allegiance keeps shifting. Nora, Thorvald, Emmy and Anne Marie are all embroiled in these dilemmas and the audience is marveling at the expertise of the writing and the humor that is peppered throughout the play.

The performances at the John Golden Theatre are among the best you will see this season. The play has garnered eight Tony nominations and is sure to win a few: Laurie Metcalf, as Nora, is a sure shot. She is monumental and a force to be reckoned with. Jayne Houdyshell. who won Best Featured Actress in a Play Tony last year for The Humans, is up again this year in the same category, as is Condola Rashad. They are the embodiment of featured actresses and great in their parts and what a thrill it would be to see a tie where both of them could win.

There is some redemption here for Sam Gold, the director. After he deliberately stripped all the poetic lyricism and butchered the magnificent The Glass Menagerie earlier this season with his awful minimalism, it’s minimalistic here as well, but it serves the purpose. With expert writing and excellent performances, I can easily see The Doll’s House, Part 2 being named the Best Play of the Year.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 8, 2017
Reviewed at performance on May 7, 2017

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Condola Rashad. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

The post ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ thrill ride of season appeared first on StageZine.

STAR-CROSSED PRODUCTION: Orlando Bloom & Condola Rashad in ‘Romeo & Juliet’. Photo: Carol Rosegg

ROMEO AND JULIET
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by David Leveaux
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
(877-250-2929), www.RomeoAndJulietBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Alas, what a pity for William Shakespeare that his plays are being reduced to gimmicky shows to draw in an audience.  Earlier this year, his Macbeth was done as a one-man show, with Alan Cumming playing virtually all the parts. Now, Romeo and Juliet, what might be Shakespeare’s most accessible play, has been reduced to an interracial version. How original. Did anyone on the creative staff ever hear of West Side Story? Now that was revolutionary. Did any of them see Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 original concept movie, Romeo + Juliet, set in Venice, California instead of Italy? Now that was radical.

The fault indeed lies not with the play, for it is still a masterpiece, but with David Leveaux’s misguided and unfocused direction. About the only thing that is intact is the florid language, but as spoken by the actors on the stage of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, one wonders at times what language. We are treated to: the traditional dialogue, garbled, high-school-level delivery, jive talk, and speed-reading delivery. Where was the ear to rein all this mayhem? However, nothing is as baffling as Leveaux’s choice of having Lady Capulet (Roslyn Ruff) doing a native African tribal dance in the middle of Act I, during Juliet’s ball. Even having Romeo (Orlando Bloom) making his entrance riding a motorcycle is more laughable and ludicrous than imaginative and original.

If there is anyone out there unfamiliar with the plot, Shakespeare himself said it best in the prologue;”Two Households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” It would help immensely if you heard these words sung to the 1978 Alec R. Costandinos’ album of “Romeo and Juliet.” Now that was phenomenal. It can be seen and heard on Youtube.

Orlando Bloom as Romeo, and Condola Rashad as Juliet, are the two young doomed lovers. The problem here is that they are doomed long before the show comes to its tragic end; the reason being is that they lack any form of chemistry or cohesion together. Mr. Bloom of Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean fame lacks any charisma or fire to ignite his Romeo. He is too old to play callow with charm and ardor; instead, he comes off as a whining simp.

Even Condola Rashad, who is always charming and enthralling to watch, is lost here. She has no real grasp of the Shakespearean language or her character. At every turn, it seems she is sabotaged by her director, Mr. Leveaux; whether it’s her famous balcony scene reciting her “Romeo Oh Romeo” soliloquy, or her giddy conversation with her Nurse (Jayne Houdyshell) or even her scenes with Friar Laurence (Brent Carver), she is stiff and lackluster. She lacks the passion, spark and yearning of a young girl who is deliriously in love with her first and only love.

This version of Romeo and Juliet seems to be neither fish nor fowl; for it can neither swim nor fly. It seems stuck in its place, much like a kiwi bird that keeps flapping its wings but is never airborne. It can’t decide whether it wants to go the traditional route by using Shakespearian language or go the hipster route (replete with grunge gray/black drab costumes and scenery – which makes the show even drearier) to attract a new audience who is familiar with Mr. Bloom. Ultimately, it just ends up as a hodgepodge mess.

Besides Romeo and Juliet, there are at least three more Shakespearian plays coming this fall alone: Yet another Macbeth at Lincoln Center with Ethan Hawke; an all-male version of Twelfth Night and Richard III, both with the formidable Mark Rylance. One can only hope these other shows will be more focused and pleasanter evenings to endure.

JULIET’S BALCONY IN MID-AIR: Condola Rashad in ‘Romeo & Juliet’. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published September 19, 2013
Reviewed at press preview on September 11, 2013

The post ‘Romeo & Juliet’ lacks chemistry appeared first on StageZine.