Thursday, February 7, 2008

Theater Review: The Lovers

By Carol M. Rice

Mark-Brian Sonna always does the remarkable. He takes a little-known story – or sometimes even a well-known story – and makes it his own. In this case, it is a story well-known in Spain but virtually unheard of in the States. That of two young lovers who are torn apart by the greed and selfishness of their parents. Who would rather die, and what they would do, to keep from being apart. Sound like Romeo and Juliet which has been done (pardon the pun) to death? The two stories share similarities, but only because Shakespeare partially modeled his young lovers on these two from the early 1200s. And after seeing MBS Productions’ retelling of the true story, one really must wonder why we haven’t seen more of The Lovers of Teruel.

Isabel and Juan Diego have been promised since birth, and unlike most arranged marriages, they have actually grown up together and have even fallen in love. Their parents are life-long friends, but Juan Diego’s family has fallen on hard times financially, and Isabel’s father, Don Segura, is reneging on his agreement to marry his only daughter to his friend’s only son. He instead wants to marry her off to the dashing Don Pedro, whose family is wealthy and powerful. Isabel refuses, even going so far as to curse Juan Diego and herself if they are not allowed to wed. Juan Diego asks for some time – five years to regain the family fortune. His request is granted, and the clock starts ticking.

Unfortunately for Juan Diego, he didn’t confirm just exactly when the five years began. In Don Segura’s mind, it began when they struck the bargain. In Juan Diego’s mind, it began the next day, when he left town.

Flash forward five years. Needless to say, Don Segura isn’t going to wait an extra minute to marry his daughter off, and the wedding has just taken place when Juan Diego bursts in professing his love. No one has seen or heard of or from him since he left, and he was presumed dead, but instead, he has more than regained his family fortune. But he is too late. Isabel has been wed to Don Pedro. He asks only for one kiss from her to sustain him, which she refuses on the grounds that being a married woman, it wouldn’t be proper. Juan Diego dies at her feet.

At his funeral the next day, Isabel apologizes for refusing to kiss him. She leans over to kiss his cold lips…and never stands back up. She, too, has died of a broken heart. Her curse has been fulfilled. Her husband, Don Pedro, decrees that because their love is so strong, Isabel and Juan Diego will be buried side by side.

What a beautiful story! I love romantic tales like this, and knowing that it’s a true story makes it even more romantic.

Alejandro de la Costa has once again transformed the tiny Stone Cottage into the beautiful, sumptuous abode where Isabel lives. His simple choices of rich, elegant fabrics and antique chairs make for a functional playing space that timelessly transports you to Medieval Spain.

The true stand-outs of the cast were undoubtedly Tim Cahill as Don Pedro and Delynda Johnson Moravec as Doña Segura, Isabel's mother. Don Pedro expresses his love for Isabel throughout the piece, despite her protestations, and in the most moving song of the night, "Si N’os Huviera Mirado," Mr. Cahill so beautifully sings and emotes that I had to wonder what was WRONG with Isabel that she didn’t give into this guy! A most impressive performance. I wish we had gotten to hear more of Ms. Moravec, as her role wasn’t very large, but I thoroughly enjoyed her singing and her acting throughout.

As Isabel, Roxi Taylor absolutely looked the part, but other than in the first scene with Juan Diego (Michael Zimmermann), she didn’t have much chemistry with her co-stars. Her singing voice was too young and thin for the role, and she had very little expression. I was also not impressed with Mr. Zimmermann – the only exception to this was when he burst into the wedding. He showed some nice dramatic chops there, but by then I was rooting for Mr. Cahill.

Patsy McGregor Sadowski and Alan Dudley are to be commended for their musical direction. Live onstage music from various stringed instruments was just perfect, and I wish some of the a cappella songs had been accompanied as well.

Mr. Sonna has written a wonderful play. It’s not too long, and in fact could even use some more backstory about the two families and the financial troubles that recently plagued Juan Diego’s. I would also liked to have seen more of the lovers themselves – the short opening scene was really not enough to show the audience just how powerful their love was, especially as silent as Juan Diego was when the engagement between Isabel and Don Pedro was being announced. We saw much more love professed from Don Pedro than between Juan Diego and Isabel.

Yet it still works. And very well – in the space, musically, visually. Mr. Sonna has written and directed a story that should be better known, for it really is beautiful and heartbreaking. MBS Productions’ mission is “bringing new theatre to the world.” After this piece, it should be “bringing old stories to the stage.” And hopefully his retelling of The Lovers of Teruel is just the beginning.

Purchase tickets online or by calling 214-477-4942. And there is also a special Valentine’s Day "Chocolate & Roses” performance in which all ticket holders will receive chocolates and a rose.

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• Week-in-view: Won’t you be ours? (Feb. 7, 2008)

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