[NEohioPAL]BERKO REVIEW: FREE WILL & WANTON LUST (CONVERGENCE)

[Roy Berko]

FREE WILL CONFRONTS WANTON LUST AT
CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)


--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

Clyde Simon, convergence-continuum’s Artistic Director
and Brian Breth, its Executive Director remind us in
the program notes for their season opening production
of ‘FREE WILL & WANTON LUST’ that the theatre was
founded with the idea of “going against the grain” and
doing “in-your-face style theatre.”  

Nicky Silver is a hot, hip, now playwright who has
much to say.  Much in the tradition of Edward Albee
and Arthur Kopit, Silver writes of the absurdities of
life.   His works and the play selection preferences
of convergence-continuum are a perfect match.  

‘FREE WILL & WANTON LUST’ is about Claire, a wealthy,
self-absorbed 40-something married woman who takes
lovers half her age to allow herself to feel young,
beautiful and fulfilled.  Her current playmate is
Tony, a studly artist who hopes Claire’s connections
will help further his career.  Claire’s children are
Amy, a 15-year-old who is bitter, intoxicated and
possibly pregnant, and 20-year-old son, Philip, who is
in search for self.  It’s a play which discusses
loneliness and the nature of humans.

Silver, is less concerned with structure than with
words.  Unfortunately, a little more structure and
less verbiage would have helped.  The first act is
hysterically funny, exposes us to the characters and
sets the stage for a lesson to be taught in Act II. 
The second act unfortunately fails to satisfy.  It
features several very, very long monologues which go
well beyond making their point regarding metaphors
centering on spitting and the sexual nature of men.

Clyde Simon’s directing is basically competent though
the pacing and character development could have been
enhanced.  After a while the play got very draggy and
the line between believability and the bizarre was
often unnecessarily crossed.  Part of this is the
writing, especially of the less than satisfying second
act.  

Lauri Hammer handled the difficult characterization of
Claire quite well.  The character is written to be
shallow, vain and self-centered, which makes it
difficult to believe she has anything important to
say.  This, plus some surface level acting, caused a
problem for her Act II monologue in which Hammer
manages to keep our attention even if she fails to
gain our interest in her fate.  

Lisa Bradley tries vainly to give us a creditable Amy.
  However, she misses the delicate balance needed to
imbue her character with the depth and desperation of
the swings between teenage brat and the confused moral
center of the play.

Geoffrey Hoffman as the young lover, doesn’t fulfill
the physical requirements needed for the body
builder-stud role.  His acting however developed the
cockiness of the character well, but missed the
shadings necessary to illustrate in Tony’s true
nature.

As Philip, the son, Steve Needham was excellent in the
shorter scenes.  He, as did Hammer, had difficulty in
commanding attention for his very long monologue.  The
depravity of the mother-son relationship was
wonderfully captured in his emotional collapse at the
play’s curtain as he was rocked in his mother’s
incestuous arms.

Allyson Rosen, as the disturbed Vivian, came on stage
like a Nazi storm trooper and created a character that
was more laughable than believable.   This overdone
characterization overshadowed the fine scene when she
explained the history that caused her to be so
emotionally detached.

Capsule Judgement: The dark comedy, "FREE WILL AND
WANTON LUST," turns heads with its title alone. It is
an interesting play that needed a more riveting and
textured production.  If for no other reason, it’s
worth seeing to appreciate what has made Nicky Silver
the new “infant terrible” of modern playwrights.

‘FREE WILL & WANTON LUST’ runs at 8 pm Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays through May 8 at
convergence-continuum’s artistic home, The Liminis, at
2438 Scranton Rd. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.
 Tickets are $12 general admission and $9 for students
and seniors. For information and reservations call
216-687-0074. Seating for this production will be
limited to about 50.



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