Sunday, March 02, 2008
A+E, Theater, Reviews
What the Dickens?
Georgia Ensemble’s latest exceeds ‘Expectations’
CREDIT: C. Tedder
Chris Moses and Harrison Long in “Great Expectations” at Georgia Ensemble Theatre
“GREAT EXPECTATIONS”
Georgia Ensemble Theatre
$17-$33
770-641-1260
www.get.org
Through March 9
DULY NOTED:
Like Farley and company, actress Judy Leavell rises to unprecedented heights in ART Station’s “The Lady With All the Answers” (directed by David Thomas), a refreshing one-woman play about advice columnist Ann Landers. Best known for folksy Southern matrons (“Shiloh Rules,” “Mama Makes Up Her Mind”), Leavell brings a classy sophistication to the role that’s commanding and makes her something deeper than a well of pithy one-liners. Through March 9. 770-469-1105. www.artstation.org.
Theatre in the Square’s “Blue Door,” by virtue of being the latest in a series of “black” plays, raises a thorny question. Sharply directed by Gary Yates, it charts a professor’s reluctant acceptance of his family history and his own life. Actor Rob Cleveland’s anxiety often seems less a character choice than an uncertainty about his lines. Eric Little is excellent as all the ancestors, although it isn’t always easy differentiating between them. But at the risk of seeming racially insensitive, when dramas like this, the current “Angela’s Mixtape” and the recent “In the Red and Brown Water” are playing to largely white audiences (at least on the nights I saw them), what’s the point? Through March 16. 770-422-8369. www.theatreinthesquare.com.
By Bert Osborne
Great expectations are something I’ve rarely had when it comes to Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Under the artistic direction of Robert Farley, the company has built a sizable audience in 15 years, mostly by dealing in safe and provincial entertainment. The shows are usually well cast and nicely designed, but they never exactly blow one away. (“Our Town”? “The Odd Couple”?)
So pay heed: Farley’s “Great Expectations” is not only his most sprawling and ambitious undertaking in terms of material (adapted by Barbara Field from the classic Dickens novel); it’s also the most stirring and accomplished production I’ve yet seen from his troupe.
The play covers a lot of ground as it follows scruffy young Pip, who receives a “handsome fortune” from an anonymous benefactor and proceeds to London to become a gentleman. Farley’s imaginative flair and invigorating pace are key. The 15-member cast alternates narrating duties, some of them initially in modern dress and American accents, before slipping into their British costumes and dialects. (Later, Pip’s own quick change from urchin into dandy is cleverly handled, too.) Occasionally, they carry signs to set the scene or emphasize particular quotes from the book.
As scripted, one major letdown is the mere description of a pivotal fire in the story. As staged, however, Farley’s only stylistic mistake is the chintzy superimposition of various clocks on the walls of the auditorium. But notice how the reclusive Miss Havisham looms atop a scaffold throughout much of the first act, and how another dark figure lurks around beneath it during the second. The director’s sparing use of music is also quite effective.
Two central performances falter slightly. A solid actor, the boyish Chris Moses looks the ideal Pip, but his nasal vocal delivery can be monotonous. More problematically, there’s no discernible maturation to his work. By the time his Pip ends up back where he started, he’s hardly a very changed man. And the great Joanna Daniel, while offering an intelligent reading of Miss Havisham, isn’t especially sad—or mean or scary or demented.
Elsewhere in the uniformly talented ensemble, Chad Martin scores as Pip’s new friend (Herbert), as do Dori Garziano (Estella) and Meredith Woolard (Biddy) as his love interests. In an admirable comeback from a lengthy absence, a virtually unrecognizable Harrison Long (as the convict Magwitch) is a much stronger character actor than I recall his being a leading man way back when. (He might want to invest in a new headshot.) James Baskin, J. Michael Carroll, Mary Emily O’Bradovich and Winslow Thomas each play multiple roles with fine versatility—excepting Thomas’ dotty old man, there’s not a false note among them.
As Pip discovers, “Conscience is a dreadful thing when it accuses a man.” For me, what a relief it is to finally ease my own conscience. I’ve waited a long time to enthusiastically recommend one of Farley’s Georgia Ensemble shows, and now consider it done. SP