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| Murri Lazaroff-Babin and Kelsey Glasser |
By Tina Arth
Hats off to Lakewood Theatre Company for the sheer variety
of their fall offerings – closing Rocky
Horror on October 13th and opening Shakespeare in Love on November 1st shows remarkable
respect for the resilience of their audience! The overall excellence of both
productions is really the only thing they have in common – but isn’t that
really all we need? If you loved the Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman movie version
(Best Picture, 1998), then you will be equally charmed by Director David
Sikking’s presentation of playwright Lee Hall’s stage adaptation. If you have
not seen the movie, you’ll be all the more surprised at the wit and originality
of the story (and you should still find a way to see the movie – I’m now
scheming on locating it online or On Demand for another viewing).
The story is absurd, and rarely attempts historical
accuracy, but it is laden with sly hints about Shakespeare’s future as an
author, and includes scenes that express a lot of truth about the playwriting
and theatrical rivalries of the Elizabethan age. The tale begins with a young
William Shakespeare in the throes of crippling writer’s block. His latest play
(a comedy with the unlikely title of Romeo
and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter),is overdue, and the impoverished author
has already sold it to two different theaters. He needs a muse, and finds one
in the fair (and very wealthy) Viola de Lesseps, destined for an arranged
marriage to Lord Wessex. She nurses a
private yen to be an actor, a career path closed to her due to her social
station and gender (no women were allowed on stage), so in classic
Shakespearean fashion, Viola disguises herself a man; it is in that guise that
she wins the lead role in the as-yet-unfinished play. Will and Viola (as herself, not her male
persona) fall madly in love and lust, but the fates interfere – in addition to the
utterly brutish Lord Wessex, there is the small matter of Will’s wife. The
whole story comes wrapped in romance and humor, accented by a host of wonderful
moments with other characters, including playwrights (Burbage, Marlowe), Queen
Elizabeth and, even better, an actual dog!
Kelsey Glasser and Murri Lazaroff-Babin are captivating as
Viola and Will. Their chemistry grows slowly, but by the end we really feel
their pain as they stoically follow their preordained fates. Other fun performers include Ruth Jenkins (Viola’s
Nurse), Michael Streeter (a dignified if somewhat indignant Burbage), Murren
Kennedy’s doomed Marlowe, and Alec Lugo’s powerful and powerfully detestable
Wessex. Olivia Shimkus is hilariously tight-lipped as the Queen, and equally
funny when she gushes over the fair Eliza (appropriately typecast as Dog), and
Chris Murphy (in various roles) is not to be missed – watch for a
larger-than-average Londoner with a killer glare.
Even by Lakewood’s lofty standards, John Gerth’s scenic
design is spectacular - evocative of the grimy back streets of 16th
century London yet flexible enough to allow dignified entrances for the Queen,
and with levels for both horseplay and swordplay. Margaret Louise Chapman’s
costumes are superb – not overdone, but definitely detailed enough to establish
the time and place. For a non-musical,
the show has a lot of singing and dancing, and the cast does a fine job with
Kemba Shannon’s choreography – at times the activity is so intense that the
scene seems on the verge of chaos, but it is all carefully controlled. I was
particularly enchanted with Rodolfo Ortega’s musical direction and sound design
– at times the music magically infused the whole theater, and the vocal
harmonies were so precise and subtle that I had to watch the players’ lips to
see that they were actually singing.
Luckily for prospective audience members, Shakespeare in Love has a long run and
there are lots of performances still to come. I highly and happily recommend
this little jewel as a great way to kick off the holiday theatrical scene!
Shakespeare in Love
is playing at the Lake Oswego’s Lakewood Center for the Arts through Sunday,
December 8th. Ticket information is available at www.lakewood-center.org
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