Friday, February 8, 2008

Theater Review Part Deux: The Lovers

By Alexandra Bonifield

Certain spokespersons of the religious right give the impression that marriage as a sacrament has been around since amorous cavemen and women tied the knot. Not so. There was a “love revolution” around 1200 A.D., when pre-arranged unions handing over women to men as property in short ceremonies presided over by magistrates began to give way to courting and romantic love and, heaven forbid, partners selecting each other. And the Church got involved, creating more elaborate ceremonies and establishing marriage as a sacrament. It must have been a tough period for then "traditionalists.”

At the same time, vocal music flourished across Europe, inspired by the rise of romantic love and the East-West clash and blending of cultural traditions, instrumentation and notions of harmony and melody. An exciting time to lead a troubadour’s life!

Mark-Brian Sonna utilizes both transitional themes in creating and producing his unique Valentine’s Month play offering The Lovers, a Byzantine soap opera with medieval music, in performance at the Stone Cottage in Addison. Based on a true series of events that took place in Teruel, Spain starting in 1212 A.D., the plot concerns the fates of two childhood sweethearts, betrothed at birth in the “traditional” way, who happen to be madly in love with each other and plan to pledge their love in the newfangled, romantic “modern” way as well. Everyone is jubilant until the wealth and prospects of the enamored young man take a severe downturn. The young lady’s papa, a sensible man of the old school, withdraws her suddenly from the long-term union, instead offering his “prize” to a new magistrate with better prospects.

Pandemonium erupts with crying, lamenting and a few curses, all in song. Overwhelmed, papa finally relents into postponing the second marriage for five years to give the first sweetheart time to travel the world to seek a new fortune. Five years passes by with no sign of his return (Act II). So honorable papa presses forward the second arranged marriage, incorporating the town priest into the ceremony along with the town magistrate. Guess who shows up, after the vows get exchanged. Guess what happens. Mon dieu. This tragic event circulated widely across Europe, in story and in song. It’s likely that it inspired Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Mark-Brian Sonna handled the tale in a delightfully unexpected way. For months he did research online, investigating the extensive wealth of music from the 1100’s through the early 1500’s, carefully treasured and preserved in universities and libraries worldwide. He employed his knowledge and skill in translating Latin, neo-Latin and related “romance” languages. He selected fourteen disparate, intriguing vocal numbers that share musical and thematic contexts, some written about the actual event, and merged them together into an almost operatic format. The result may never make it as a TV series but is still captivating, thought-provoking entertainment and so completely appropriate for the month we celebrate St. Valentinus.

Sonna cast fine, classically-trained singers with rich voices, all brave enough to take on the unusual dissonance and non-traditional harmonies of the music as written. He employs guitar, dulcimer and harp as accompaniment, enhancing the ethereal ambience. The play runs about an hour and a half with one short intermission. It’s a memorable way to celebrate romantic love, no matter how traditionally or modernly defined. The singing and staging are excellent. The acting is less so, but as the music carries the show, it hardly diminishes the production’s effectiveness. Best performance of the show is Tim Cahill, portraying the second suitor, Don Pedro, with a singing voice that could charm the birds out of the trees and a powerful stage presence to match.

MBS Productions' The Lovers runs through February 16, with a special Chocolate and Roses performance on February 14, a likely sell-out. Purchase tickets online or by calling 214-477-4942.

Alexandra Bonifield is an independent arts critic & advocate for performance art.

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• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater > Plays
• Holidays > Valentine's Day