main cast & crew

The ShaLLow of Your Smile

George Heymont
Monday, September 26, 2011
My Cultural Landscape

As part of its 20th anniversary season, the Shotgun Players commissioned five world premieres. The latest to hit the stage is an adaptation of Jean Racine's 1677 classic, Phèdre, by the talented playwright, Adam Bock. In describing his particular style of writing, Bock explains that:

"I love the landscape of language -- its murky depths, its silences and sounds and noises -- spoken language is so different from written language -- the challenge of using words on the page to prompt real language on stage is a difficult and fascinating challenge. I also love to see what happens to language as emotion is added to it -- how we talk when we are upset, how language breaks as we cry or scream or mutter."

Rose Riordan, who directed Bock's new Phaedra, notes that:

"He understands the nature of how people really speak. Most of it happens between a sound, a word and a punctuation. He creates a symphony of human nature in the most elegant and minimal way."
With a running time of one hour and 45 minutes, Bock's new Phaedra begins as the family maid, Olibia, informs the audience that the marriage between Catherine and Antonio has always been one of convenience. They met and thought getting married would be a good idea, but the passion faded and they are now stuck together in a loveless lifestyle. The house in which they live might as well be a furniture showroom.

What Bock has done to transform a tale in which Greek gods, sea monsters, war, and fate pushed the plot forward is to dial down the catalytic factors roiling within an upscale suburban home in Connecticut to the most human levels. While this may be the easiest set Nina Ball has ever been asked to design for Shotgun, her ability to make its catalogue-perfect sterility an unscripted character is enhanced by the eerie sound design work by Hannah Birch Carl.

•Instead of the father figure being Theseus, an Athenian king, he has been recast as Antonio Mason (Keith Burkland), a judge with no sense of humor and no sympathy whatsoever for people less fortunate than himself. The epitome of a compassionless conservative, Antonio uses alcohol to numb the ongoing pain of his existence.

•Olibia (Trish Mulholland) is the household maid who, like Racine's Oenone, is the nurse and confidante to the family matriarch.

•Catherine (Catherine Castellanos), is Antonio's second wife. A control freak desperately trying to hide her unhappy secret, she broods, sulks, and fumes at the thought of her stepson returning home following his release from a rehab facility.

•Having been transformed from Hippolytus to Paulie (Patrick Alparone), Catherine's stepson is a newly released addict trying not to be overwhelmed by his family's emotional baggage.

•Racine's Aricie has been transformed into Taylor (Cindy Im), the practical young woman who befriends Paulie in rehab (Taylor's father is a labor lawyer who is despised by Antonio).

The acting is superb throughout, with special kudos going to Patrick Alparone (who never fails to impress). Cindy Im, Trish Mulholland, and Keith Burkland provide sturdy support with well-defined characterizations. But is the riveting performance by Catherine Castellanos (as the stepmother who secretly lusts after her husband's son) that nearly leaves burn marks on the set.

Working with this top-notch ensemble, Bock and Riordan have pulled off a minor miracle: transforming a 334-year-old play written for an entirely different culture into a powerful modern American drama that provides a remarkable companion piece to the Aurora Theatre Company's production of Edward Albee's 1966 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Delicate Balance. Ironically, these two plays are being performed quite close to each other in Berkeley (both productions continue through October 23rd).

These two intense dramas about dysfunctional families are perfect examples of what makes live theatre so exciting. To see one would be a highly fulfilling experience. To be able to see and compare both plays is the kind of theatrical experience that will rock your world. Get your tickets now.