Stage talk:
This time of year, local theater undergoes a spring
awakening
Charles Brousse
Posted: 04/01/2009 09:54:03 PM PDT
Marin
Independent Journal
Over the years I've noticed that production activity
at Bay Area theaters has a distinct set of circadian
rhythms. At the moment, we're in the middle of the
most intense period - what I might call the "spring
awakening," during which resident companies trot
out their best wares in hopes not only of capturing
an immediate audience, but also selling subscriptions
for next season. For critics, the dilemma is how to
keep up.
With that in mind, I'm devoting this month's column
to a couple of shows I enjoyed that didn't make it
on to the pages of the IJ, but still can be seen during
the remainder of their runs. Then, switching to the
role of volunteer handicapper, I'll name a handful
of intriguing productions opening this month that
I probably won't have the time or space to report
on.
Skylight at Berkeley's Ashby Stage pairs
one of England's most interesting contemporary dramatists,
David Hare, with one of the Bay Area's most exciting
small theater companies, the Shotgun Players. Hare's
play revolves around a tense verbal and physical encounter
between two perfectly matched combatants. In one corner
is Kyra Hollis, an attractive young woman who has
left affluence behind to live and work as a teacher
in London's immigrant neighborhood of Kensal Rise.
In the other is Tom Sergeant, her former wealthy businessman
lover, who desperately tries to rekindle their passion
after the death of his wife leaves them free to be
together. They spar, jab and counterpunch, each advancing
his
or her own version of why their relationship failed
and, when the bell marking the end of hostilities
finally rings, so close is the scoring that it's impossible
to tell who emerges the winner, and who the loser.
As brilliant as Hare's script is, a play like this
has to be meticulously staged and performed, or it
may be swamped by the emotional floodwaters. Shotgun
doesn't disappoint. Director Patrick Dooley and his
cast of Emily Jordan as Kyra and John Mercer as Tom
(a third actor, Carl Holvick-Thomas, has some nice
moments as Tom's confused son Edward) carve out every
beat to achieve its maximum impact. As both principals
are originally from England, they know the author's
dramatic territory well - and they also happen to
be super-talented. You're not likely to find a better
production of Skylight anywhere.