Theater Review: A New Drama

by Ed Townley of John Garcia's The Column

A rewarding evening that could profitably be about 20 minutes shorter.

Un Drama Nuevo by Manuel Tamayo y Baus is recognized as a formative play in the history of Spanish theater. Written in 1867, it was considered daring in its day, with a central and illicit love affair that was clearly being physically consummated (offstage, of course!) – as opposed to the hands-off standards of courtly love more familiar in the dramas of the time. The author also played fast and loose with dramatic conventions and historical accuracy in ways that allow the script to seem fresh today.

It's surprising that A New Drama isn't better known in the English-speaking theater– especially since it takes place in Elizabethan London, in and around the Globe Theater no less, and one of its characters is, yes, William Shakespeare himself. And while there's an undeniably overripe, telenovela quality to the story, it plays with themes – love vs. passion, real life vs. the stage and the instability of theater people in general – that have found expression in many other plots both before and since. There are echoes (probably deliberate) of both Othello and Hamlet, and I was also strongly reminded of later works, including Leoncavello's Pagliacci, the Ronald Coleman film A Double Life (in which an actor portraying Othello finds the role beginning to consume his private life) and many other stories of forbidden love and theatrical nuttiness.

All of which makes the MBS Productions' A New Drama, in a new translation by MBS founder Mark-Brian Sonna (who also plays the central role) an intriguing opportunity to both experience an unfamiliar classic and affirm the universality & timelessness of human emotions, especially baser (and more popular) emotions such as lust, jealousy and revenge.

The story is clear and focused, without distracting subplots. Yorick is a successful comic actor in the Globe Theatre company. (Presumably Shakespeare named the skull in Hamlet as a kind of in-joke.) But, like so many clowns before and since, he longs to be appreciated for his tragedic chops as well. His wife is the much younger Alicia, who married him out of gratitude for his assistance to her dying mother. But she truly loves Edmund, Yorick's young, sort-of-adopted son. And he lusts after her as well. When the play begins their affair is already full-blown, a fact known apparently to everyone in London (certainly everyone on stage) except Yorick.

Well. Yorick persuades Shakespeare (in a strangely unconvincing scene) to let him have the lead role in a new tragedy, written by a new young playwright, about a cuckolded husband. This arouses the fury of the Iago-like actor Walton, who has heretofore been the go-to guy for all tragic leads. He knows more than he should about the illicit affair. Letters, foolishly written, fall into the wrong hands. Mayhem ensues, culminating in a third act set backstage and onstage at the Globe.

Clearly we're no more than a carelessly raised eyebrow away from Charles Ludlam territory here; it would be easy to go disastrously wrong in wrestling with all these larger-than-life emotions – particularly in an intimate playing space, the Stone Cottage in Addison, that can hardly contain all the passion being unleashed. And yes, the actors at the performance I caught, while demonstrating a nimble confidence with the long and intricate script, were still struggling to find a consistent playing level – comfortable for both the space and the audience. But by and large, Sonna's lively translation and the direction of Charles Ballinger successfully keep things balanced and believable.

What emerges most clearly in the production, thanks to some risk-taking performances, is a theme that the playwright may never have intended. It first asserts itself in Lisa D'Alessandro's first scene as the deceiving Alicia. She has a long, rushed speech to her lover about how chaotic her life has become because of the deception – it's his fault, it's her fault, it's her husband's fault, they should stop seeing each other, they can't stop seeing each other, it's all too much. It could be the endearingly impulsive skittishness of a woman in love. But, as D'Alessandro beautifully plays it, it clearly could also be the demented ravings of a woman teetering on the brink of total insanity.

That question – is it love, or is it madness? – begins to infect every other character as the drama unfolds. Cody Lucas as Edmund, the illicit lover, talks a mile a minute at full voice, explosive with passions that seem even more shallow and suspect than hers. And the insanity -- from the world around him and from the new play he's struggling to learn – infects Yorick most of all. Mark-Brian Sonna takes his time in building the madness; when it finally explodes, it is both appalling and believable (and occasionally quite funny).

Mike Hathaway as Shakespeare (that'll look good on the resume!) has the thankless job of trying to keep things on track, and Alan Dudley is perhaps a bit too sneeringly evil as the jealous Walton; a little easing of intensity would be welcome. Amanda Calder as an on-with-the-show stage manager and, especially, Miles Brennan as the young playwright whose first opening night is being trashed by the backstage histrionics bring humor and a much-needed touch of humanity to the third act.

The production makes fine use of the pre-existing ambiance of the Stone Cottage. It is difficult to pull off period costumes and period swordfights in such an intimate space, which make the contributions of costume designer Alejandro de la Costa and fight choreographer Alan Dudley all the more impressive.

All in all, A New Drama is a rewarding evening that could profitably be about 20 minutes shorter; the 19th-century style of having each character make the same point several times – often starting to exit only to turn back and expand on an already long scene – is wearing after a while. Yet MBS Productions, and Mark-Brian Sonna as both translator and actor, have done us all a service in allowing us to experience this Spanish classic, and to ponder yet again the madness of love – and our love for madness.

The show runs through February 15 with a special performance on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, which includes chocolates and a rose for each patron for $29. Purchase tickets online or by calling 214-477-4942.