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Review: 'Phaedra' at Berkeley's Shotgun Players By Karen D'Souza Adam Bock transplants the Greek tragedy of "Phaedra" to the land of SUVs and soccer moms in a tawdry tale of sex and death in the suburbs. Obie-winner Bock, a nimble writer best known for the quirky comic voice he showed off in everything from "Five Flights" to "The Typographer's Dream," has always seemed like a writer of the moment. But here he connects the au courant with the classical in a sharply-observed marriage of "Desperate Housewives," Racine's "Phèdre" and Euripides' "Hippolytus." He also taps into some of the gravitas that marked "The Shaker Chair," a memorable ode to the birth of an activist. Clearly Bock is one of those playwrights who resists classification. He leaps through modes and genres so swiftly it's hard to find the limits of his range. Here he nails the inarticulate symphony of everyday speech where stammers, pauses and repetitions tell us more about the speaker than perfectly-crafted turns of phrase. One of the pillars of Shotgun Players' audacious all-world premieres 20th anniversary season, this ambitious reinvention, smartly directed by Rose Riordan, also highlights how far this adventurous Berkeley troupe has come from its early days under a pizza parlor. While the lurid love triangle could use more electricity to power its tragic finale, Bock still delivers a potent retelling of the Greek myth that forces us to see ourselves in the faces of the ancients. In this incarnation of the ruinous romance, the court is reinvented as a flashy monster home drenched in hues of beige and framed by ostentatious marble columns (set by Nina Ball). The queen of this yuppie castle is Catherine (Catherine Castellanos), an Amazon-warrior type bedecked in Ann Taylor power outfits. Her husband is an ultraconservative judge, with a fat wallet and a slim intellect, named Antonio (Keith Burkland). Steeped in a silence that long ago went sour, their relationship has deteriorated into a truce that barely holds long enough to make it through breakfast. The powder keg of their life is sparked when Catherine's stepson Paulie (Patrick Alparone), a scruffy Mustang-driving hottie fresh out of rehab, enters the picture. He returns to the family manse flanked by a gum-smacking bohemian friend-with-benefits named Taylor (Cindy Im). His tousled hair and James Dean slouch tempt the lady of the house into casting off the shackles of her middle-class existence. All the while, the chattering maid (Trish Mulholland) tidies up after the bourgeois brood and goads them into one fatal misstep after another. Castellanos lives up to her reputation for simmering stage presence as the regal Catherine finds herself inextricably drawn to the forbidden fruit in the next room. Her desperate booze-fueled late night stab at seduction seems messy and raw and real. The actress is also mesmerizing as Catherine becomes unhinged in the face of her dark fate. Alparone (last seen in "Lolita Roadtrip" at San Jose Stage) is equally compelling as a little boy lost aghast at his stepmother's naked lust but also sympathetic to the pull of an insatiable appetite. While the actor misses some of the urgency of addiction, he wryly captures the rebel's disgust for the realm of conformity and 401(k)s. Alparone's flirty chemistry with Im gives the play its most palpable sexual charge. A little more heat between him and Castellanos would give the production more fire. Burkland also seems a little low-key given the macho bluster that ought to fuel a hard-liner like Antonio. And the opening scenes between husband and wife need a jolt of intensity if the passive aggressive power plays are to sting the viewer. The director conjures up a surreal universe of shadows (lighting and projections by Lucas Krech) and slow-motion interludes, but the pent-up desire never quite reaches the fever pitch this cauldron of lust and betrayal demands. That lack of a burning flame undercuts the catharsis of the ending. Still, there's no denying the ardor of Bock's vision. The text remains ceaselessly inventive, jarring and seductive as the posh sterility of Catherine's high-end lifestyle careens into chaos. |
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