by Harry Duke *
Most theatregoers familiarity with the works of George Bernard Shaw begins and ends with his play Pygmalion, the source material for the classic musical My Fair Lady. His other plays range from historical dramas to comedies of manners. All contain elements of social criticism of their time.
His works usually get programmed in a season at the urging of theatre artists who relish the idea of producing a quality period piece and all that comes with that from characters to costumes to scenery. Consequently, Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse has a production of Shaw’s Misalliance running on their Monroe Stage through Oct. 25
It’s 1909 and the audience is transported to the conservatory of the estate of British underwear king John Tarleton (Mike Pavone) where he and Mrs.Tarleton (Laura Downing-Lee), their son Johnny (Sam Coughlin) and daughter Hypatia (Evvy Carlstrom-March) are hosting Lord Summerhays (John Craven) and his son (and Hypatia’s fiancé) Bentley (Jayce Kaldunski) for the weekend.
Hypatia is buckling under the pressure to conform to society’s role for her and yearns for a life of adventure. Johnny yearns for Bentley to disappear. Lord Summerhays yearns for Hypatia. The yearning goes into overdrive when a plane crashes onto the roof of the estate and deposits its pilot (David Bradbury) and his passenger, a Polish circus performer (Karen Miles), into the proceedings. Then a rabid, gun-toting socialist (Phi Tran) shows up.
The 90-minute first act consists of a lot of, as Hypatia herself mentions, “talk, talk, talk” which was enough for some patrons to go scurrying off at intermission. They missed a much more dynamic, frenetic, amusing, and slightly shorter second act.
Director Drew Bolander has a top-notch cast at work here. Pavone, a reliable character actor, steps into the lead here and impresses. Downing-Lee is a very grounded matriarch. Craven, in a standard John Craven role, exercises his ability to turn a single word (“acrobat”) into a hysterical monologue.
The younger members of the cast meet the standard set by the veterans, with Carlstrom-March and Bradbury nicely paired as the pursuer and pursued. Coughlin is appropriately stuffy. Kaldunski seems to be channeling the late Leslie Jordan and is quite amusing as the diminutive “Bunny”. Miles and Tran are burdened with some heavy accent work (Polish and Cockney) and physical comedy and handle both well.
Strong performances, a nicely-detailed set (Bruce Lackovic), fine period costuming (Mae Heagerty-Matos) and an amusing – if long – script await your attendance.
‘Misalliance’ runs through October 25 on the Monroe Stage at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth Street, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat-Sun, 2pm. $28–$49. 707.523.4185. 6thstreeetplayhouse.com
Photos by Eric Chazankin
This review originally appeared in an edited version in the North Bay Bohemian.
