Every summer the
Classical Theatre Lab and the City of West Hollywood present free outdoor shows
and I was able to catch this very funny play on its final weekend at Kings Road
Park. Expecting a dour Russian comedy, I was delighted to discover a totally
wild and wacky adaptation of an old chestnut.
Director Mel Green, the main updating
suspect, has taken Aleksander Ostrovsky’s classic play and transformed it to a
totally modern social comedy. Causing an uproar in Russia when published in
1850, the subject is just as pertinent today in our modern world of greed and financial
trickery.
Outdoor theater
demands that actors not only be seen but heard, and this excellent company win
kudos on all counts. There is the rich conniving businessman (Joe Hulser) with
an ambitious daughter wanting to marry up (Lonni Silverman); the scornful wife
holding on to pretentions of society (Karen Tarleton); the surly housekeeper
(Rachel Sorteberg); the saucy boy (Riley Dandy), and their unctuous peasant
servant with a lust for the daughter and an eye to his future (Darryl
Armbruster).
Complicating matters, from outside comes their tippling looney
lawyer (Donald Wayne), and the snobbish local yenta (Kaye Kittrell). However, as
in some families, this affair turns out badly for some but is delightfully
amusing for us.
Produced by Suzanne
Hunt, Laura James and Alex Wells, with costumes by Natalie Shahinyan. Photos by Garth Pillsbury.
For info
call 323-960-5691 or classicaltheatrelab@gmail.com.
For upcoming shows visit their website www.classicaltheatrelab.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment