Reviewed
by Judy Richter
Part of the way that American Conservatory Theater is celebrating its 40th anniversary season is by reviving successful past productions. Hence the title of its current production, "The Circle" by W. Somerset Maugham, has added significance. It recalls the 1977 production that was revived in 1978. It is so memorable because of the three veteran ACT actors who portrayed the play's elder characters.
Those
actors -- now all deceased -- were Marrian Walters as Lady Catherine
Champion-Cheney, William Paterson as Clive Champion-Cheney and Sydney Walker as Lord Hugh Porteous. Besides
their individual talents, these three had the advantage of being members of the
resident company and having worked together. They had excellent rapport,
resulting in sharp timing as well as the ability to play people who have known
one another for a long time. They also had worked with most of their fellow
actors, expanding the sense of ensemble.
That
sense of ensemble and the sharp timing are missing from this current revival.
Director Mark Lamos hasn't molded his actors into characters who know one another well,
or perhaps some roles have been miscast. Maugham's 1921 drawing-room play, set
in a handsome English home in 1920, relies more on dialogue than action to
propel the story. In the right hands, the talk flows. Otherwise, it can seem
stilted at times, as it does here.
The
title refers to a family story that seems destined to be repeated in a second
generation. Arnold Champion-Cheney (James Waterston), a member of Parliament, is
still bitter that his mother, Lady Catherine (Kathleen Widdoes), deserted his father, Clive (Philip
Kerr), when
Arnold was 5 years old. She ran off with Clive's friend, Lord Hugh Porteous (Ken
Ruta), who gave
up a promising political career because of the scandal.
Now
Arnold's wife, Elizabeth (Allison Jean White), has fallen in love with Edward
"Teddy" Luton (Craig Marker), who has less money and social standing than Arnold.
With the three elder characters together after more than 30 years, they reflect
on how their lives have changed for the better and worse, especially since
Elizabeth is considering running off with Teddy, repeating the cycle.
Kerr
as Clive, who has become something of a charming reprobate, and Ruta as Lord
Hugh, now a curmudgeon, seem best suited and most comfortable in their roles.
Otherwise, the production's strengths lie in the design, especially John
Arnone's
light-filled solarium, all white and green; Candice Donnelly's handsome period costumes; York
Kennedy's
lighting and Jeff Mockus' sound.
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