Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Theater Review: Biography

By Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

I love Karen Cole. I love Jeff Swearingen. I love gems of theatre that have been forgotten and then get rediscovered. S.N. Behrman’s Biography currently being presented by Anagram Productions at the Dallas Hub Theater has all three. If you haven’t been to Deep Ellum in a while, here’s your reason to go. That is if you like well acted, sophisticated, witty, and intelligent theatre.

Biography tells the story of Marion Froude a world wizened woman originally from Tennessee now residing in New York City. She is a rather successful second tier painter who is approached by Richard Kurt a young hot shot editor to write a biography of her life in a serial form for a national magazine. The controversy surrounding her is that she’s had numerous affairs with various notable men. Her first love was a man named Leander (Bunny) Nolan, who is now running for the US Senate. Granted, her love affair with him was while she was still a young girl in Tennessee so it wasn’t as scandalous as her later trysts. Nonetheless, this promises to derail the Nolan’s campaign and his engagement to Slade Kinnicott. Orrin Kinnicott, Slade’s father, is determined to squash the story for he doesn’t want any scandal to plague his family or future son-in-law. Further complications ensue including Marion and Richard falling for each other. Though the time is set in 1932, the topics of fame, celebrity scandal, tabloid journalism, and behind the scenes corruption are as relevant today as back then.

What made this play so good are the wondrous performances of Karen Cole as Marion, and Jeff Swearingen as Richard. It would be very easy to play Marion as a successful tramp and over the top. What Ms. Cole has done to her character is imbue her with passivity so that she is not a scandalous woman at all; it’s her affairs that are scandalous. Marion is almost sweet, which confounds those who would first think of her as a trashy social climber. Richard is an angry man for he finds himself wanting to achieve a level of greatness that seldom comes to someone so young. He is impatient and frustrated with his own age. Both actors make these actors so palpable and believable that I wasn’t aware of any acting -- these two characters were living on the stage in front of me. There wasn’t a single false moment in their performances. It helps that the script is so perfectly written: every word counts.

The other actors vary a bit in the level of talent but overall the ensemble convinces. Ronnie Giddens as Bunny, the senator to be, is overly sedate and struggles to maintain a cool collected presence even though his career and marriage may explode right before his eyes. This is the best performance I’ve seen Mr. Giddens give. The only tip I would give was his habitual pulling of his vest and coat. Yes, it indicates he is someone who is a stuffed shirt and signals to the audience his discomfort, but the gesture is overused and became a bit distracting at times. Other then that, his arc is well developed and when he does finally raise his voice I was taken back and nearly jumped in my seat.

The maid Minnie played by Marilyn Latham was a hoot. She nailed her German accent flawlessly, and she was a joy to watch as she reacted to the different guests in the house. Her reaction to the movie star Warwick Wilson, the movie star, was pricelessly funny. DJ Smith plays the role of Mr. Wilson quite well, though I would suggest he pull back on the use of his eyebrows, while it was funny, the joke played out quickly. Shelly Alexis as Slade Kinnicott brought an exuberance that was overbearing, which was perfect for her character. Her comic skills are impeccable.

As always, Anagram astounded me away with the sets and production values, especially for such a small company. Seeing that in essence this is a parlor comedy, the designers caught the feeling of 1930’s Manhattan. It isn’t Art Deco which most people expect, it was the Beaux Arts style which actually was the more popular in that era. The costuming was wonderful, mainly Ms. Cole’s outfits. Every time she stepped in to the room her outfits captured the period, and made me gasp they were that good. Even her wig, and I’ve lambasted Anagram for their wigs, was absolutely wonderful: Spot on!

This play was also presented in the original 3 Act format which is a delight. Frequently theatres combine Acts 2 and 3 into a single second act because modern audiences expect this configuration. What makes a three act play so delicious is that when it’s done right, you get to savor the production twice while it’s occurring.

A thought occurred to me midway through the play. Since Anagram’s specialty is Early 20’th century theatre, and they are able to so perfectly capture the sensibilities of those eras, I would love to see them do justice to Rossum’s Universal Robots, by Karel Čapek. If anyone can tackle this gorgeously complex play, they could.

I must toast Anagram for a nearly flawless production of Biography. I’d make the toast in a mug if they had one for sale!

Biography runs through August 3 and tickets can be purchased online or by calling 877-238-5596.

Pegasus News content partner - MBS Productions

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