Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / April 9, 2004, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
APRIL 9, 2004 GREENSBORO, NC makes waves in Guilford Theatre Uerprets and retells and Roman myths rded in Ovid's clas )sely framed as sto isherwomen as they work, the sto l ries depict love in its many forms: love for a person, for things, for power; love as I desire, greed, hunger, lust; even love at its purest and most beautiful. Guilford's pro duction, direct ed by Jack Zer be , breathes life into these sto ries, and my lasting impres sion of the play is of its sheer, moving beauty Though much about the pro duction was ) |ES . . |r y impressive, the es thing that falls short of genios COURTESY OF TRIAD STAGE struck me immediately was its set. Designed by April Soroko, the stately, symmetrical set featured one decidedly unique aspect: a pool of water. Not only did the pool provide shocks and laughs for the audi ence, who were splashed often during the play, it was the central area of action, a fact that some how enhanced the play's timeless quality. This tone was solidified by the echoing, Mediterranean sounding music, as well as the constumes, which included deli cate white garments, flowing dresses, and much exposed skin. Then, of course, there were the stories themselves. The classic myths, recalling fairy tales with their sensuous and eternal mood, ran to extremes. Some were mod ernized, some left in their original form; some funny, others movingly sad. This range of emotions was par ticularly impressive considering each story took less than fifteen minutes. The cast of ten actors played over fifty roles in the play, and, while I sometimes wanted more time with the individual char acters and tales, their multiple FEATURES appearances echoed earlier char acters and helped create the play's continuity. The small cast-to-character ratio also showcased the actors' ability. Each played at least five roles - succeeding, for the most part, in bringing them all to life. It's not easy to swing an audi ence back and forth between tears and laughter, but this play did it. It opened with humor, as Zeus (played by Brandon Sasnett) lit a cigarette off the spark he used to create life. The humor continued in a scene between the angsty Phaeton (Noah Foreman) and his therapist (Susan Rahmsdorff), which dryly referenced The Graduate. Other sto ries, like that of Orpheus (Eduard Ferrer) and Eurydice (Samantha Kittle), were movingly trag ic. Still others res onated with beauty - most notably, the last myth of the play. It was the story of a poor and elderly couple, melodrama. His oddities were often used as comic relief, so when his chance to shine, i.e. schizophrenic breakdown, finally came, his fervent body shaking and pained grimace seemed vast ly out of place. Canzano, playing Robert's less talented disciple, must be com mended for his natural comic tim ing and mastery of the geeky role. One only wonders why a dynamic character such as Hal takes inter est in the indolent Catherine. But if you can get past the frus tratingly flat characters, you may be able to detect a poignant theme or two seeping through the dia logue. Mathematics becomes a way for the characters to work Baucis (Trina Farmer) and Philemon (Ferrar), who are given one wish as a reward for their gen erosity. Their wish: to remain together until the end, to die at the same moment. This scene is only one of many exquisite moments, though the play certainly had its flaws, as all plays do. Some acting was better than others, and some stories less believable or less affecting. But none of the faults were seri ous, and none hindered Metamorphoses from achieving a somehow-transcen dent beau- •ft f !„. ®i , H § ■ J w 1-:. jgl '•£ W, ■••;.• .K V V., S lit . ,-Xr ||Bg£* T.. *& • - : - ra -F p£#*- • • J ■ ya*ay|H |l w *SPlr' ' ■ .-^ JACK HILLEY/SPECIAL TO THE GUILFORDIAN Trina Farmer, Steffan Schollaert, and Erin Greenway through their problems, from rela tionships to depression. Andrew Wiles, a famous mathe matician who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, described this ther apeutic process in a quote includ ed in Proofs playbill: "Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathemat ics in terms of entering a dark mansion," Wiles said. "One goes into the first room, and it's dark, completely dark. One stumbles around bumping into the furniture, and gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is, and finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch. You turn it on, and suddenly, it's all illuminated. WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM ty and a quality Guilford hasn't seen since the 2000 production of Angels in America. In addition to the impressive physical appeal of the production's technical aspects, the strength of its acting, and the more subtle draw its mood creates, the play has one additional quality: a basic appeal to human optimism and hope. Metamorphoses' primary theme is the endurance of love, and I bought it entirely. You can see exactly where you were." Through its discourse on vague numerical concepts and romanti cized eccentricities of genius, Proof alludes to a higher perfec tion reached through mathemat ics. Unfortunately, it is unable to attain a similar degree of perfec tion in performance style. Triad Stage has its good nights and bad nights, and Proof falls just short of the former. If you're still in the mood for a mathematical drama, I would sug gest picking up a copy of A Beautiful Mind or Pi for an equally entertaining evening. PAGE 7
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 9, 2004, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75