Theatre Review:
Witty ‘Scandal’ at Everyman Theatre
By David J. Glover
Towson Towerlight, November 13th 2006, page 15
“Space, the final frontier!”
Gene Roddenberry’s immortal line opens every episode of Star Trek by reminding us that space is the last vestige of the unconquerable, the edge of wilderness, the end of knowledge. It is the insurmountable challenge of space which presents itself in abundance at Everyman Theatre’s current production A School For Scandal.
On Friday night this self proclaimed “ornate” production saw Michael Bawtree’s 1975 adaptation of R.B. Sheridan’s 1777 comedy receive a warm reception from the opening night full house. With 174 audience members and 19 actors the auditorium felt, at times, a little crowded but never uncomfortable.
The audience take their seats affront a dimly lit, colorless, featureless, semi-thrust stage which, after a brief opening exposition, is transformed in the blink of an eye into a flurry of contradictions. The technically pleasing but cramped set is colorful painted yet viscerally lacking. The reveal is a moment of spectacle sitting somewhere between a British Christmas pantomime and an amateur musical.
I do sympathize with set designer and TU faculty member, Daniel Ettinger. It’s not that the scenography is bad (the lighting is bad – but the set isn’t), it’s just that there is something textural missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. Perhaps because the wordy witticisms so wryly interwoven with deliciously devilish delivery of dialogue by cunning, conniving characters, combine to create the performance craft equivalent of a three layer chocolate cake. When all this luxurious language is placed inside Gail Stewart Beach’s highly detailed, period style costumes then topped with Anne Nesmith’s beautifully realistic, well maintained wigs and delivered with a self-conscious tongue-in-check irony that only a truly comic script and a well seasoned actor can articulate, there is almost no space on stage for a set at all, though it did elicit several rounds of applause and a muffled “oh, that’s clever!” from the audience. The question then is not so much how should we conquer the final frontier but rather what should be done when we find it already conquered.
The remainder of the evening’s substantial applause, however, were directed at some of the most polished, witty and well directed comedy performances that I have seen in American regional theatre.
Sheridan’s plot is a complicated and riotous web of trickery and deceit enslaving a multitude of characters living the flamboyant lifestyle of the 18th century British upper-class. The whole show feels like a cross between the UK sit-com Blackadder The Third and the film Dangerous Liaisons, and not in a bad way either. Do not expect a detailed character study or an intellectual social commentary in this show; expect a giggle and perhaps a guffaw. It is not by chance that Sheridan’s characters are named Surface, Backbite, Careless and Candor there is no room for subtlety here.
The character’s of Sir Peter and Lady Teazle, played by Carl Schurr and Megan Anderson, are full of teasing wit, Vincent M. Lancisi’s skilful direction draws on this to provide us with a hilarious husband and wife comedy. Other notable performances include Patrick Tansor as the morally shallow Joseph Surface and Wil Love as Sir Oliver Surface - a long absent uncle returning home from the “East Injies,” whose superficiality comes through in his forgivable vanity. Tansor and Love, among others, exude pleasurably from the stage with the assistance of Lancisi’s excellent direction which demonstrates not only a real understanding of the fluidity necessary for successful comedy timing but also a genuine passion for the script itself.
Despite some pardonable slips of accent only one minor company member’s performance is stilted enough to warrant mention, unfortunately it is that of TU alum Reece Thornberry who makes up for poor timing with a little overacting - this may dissipate over time as he settles in to the run. TU Theatre department’s reputation is restored intact however by Bruce Nelson’s whimsical presentation of two different characters; the foppish gossip Benjamin Backbite and the objectionable Snake both of whom could have been plucked straight from the aforementioned episode of Blackadder.
Disregarding my opinions about the set I would be remiss (let’s face it I can’t contain myself) if I were not to point out how distracting the lighting was for me. This is an enjoyable performance riddled with little comic asides and verbalized thought processes which do not need to be emphasized by repeated fluctuations in lighting. Harold F. Burgess II’s patchy and inconsistent lighting design appears to bounces up and down with every other exchange of dialogue which (call me over sensitive!) I found off-putting.
The production runs at over two and a half hours with two 10 minute intervals, tickets range from $17 -$30 and the show runs till December 17th.
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