[NEohioPAL]Berko review: RESTORING THE SUN (CPH)

[Roy Berko]

‘RESTORING THE SUN’ IN WORLD PREMIERE AT CPH

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
LORAIN COUNTY TIMES--WESTLAKER TIMES--LAKEWOOD NEWS
TIMES--OLMSTED-FAIRVIEW TIMES


On March 23, 1989, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann
announced their discovery of "cold fusion."   It was
the most heavily hyped science story of the decade,
but the awed excitement quickly evaporated amid
accusations of fraud and lack of a provable scientific
process.  When it was over, Pons and Fleischmann were
humiliated, their reputations ruined, and they dropped
out of sight. "Cold fusion" and "hoax" became
synonymous.

Despite the scandal, laboratories in at least eight
countries are still spending millions on cold fusion
research.  This work has yielded a huge body of
evidence, which has remained virtually unknown because
most academic journals adamantly refuse to publish
papers on the subject.   According to many scientists,
cold fusion, the process that would eliminate the
world’s dependence on oil and other fossil fuels for
energy, remains a colossal conspiracy of denial.  

Playwright Joe Sutton seized upon the
Pons/Fleischmann/Cold Fusion story and has developed
it into a play which is receiving its world premiere
at the Cleveland Play House.   The script, which was
featured in last season’s “Next Stage Festival of New
Plays,” was originally commissioned and developed by
The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Science and Technology Project.

The subject is fascinating, the play is not.  That is
not to say audiences will be bored. They won’t.  The
subject matter insures that the viewer is going to be
interested.  It is just that the script needs work,
especially when comparing it to  ‘COPENHAGEN,’ another
story of scientists which is tightly written and lends
itself to a strong performance, such as that at
Actors’ Summit last season.

The play’s dialogue is often forced and unnatural.  In
some cases, language is manipulated rather than being
natural.  For example, characters explain what they
have just experienced to other characters who have
also had the same experience.  Also, in most plays we
quickly learn the necessary character names and
information about the situation.  Not in this script. 
The exposition wanders throughout the entire first
act.   In addition, some of the staging devices are
forced.  People step in and out of scenes with no
motivation, appearing in doorways for no reason,
inserting themselves into conversations with no
incentive. 

Director Connie Grappo doesn’t help matters by pacing
the production  slowly .   She also seems to have
failed to probe deeply into character motivations with
her cast.  

Joseph Adams, who plays Professor Stevens, lacks
cunning.  Here is an unknown academician who hooks his
star to an old, but respected scientific researcher in
order to gain notoriety, but seems relaxed and
unscrupulous throughout.  Daniel Cantor, who portrays
a public relations opportunist, stays on the surface,
not revealing his underlying motivations.  Keira
Naughton, who portrays a journalist who is suspicious
of the process, underplays the role to the degree that
one wonders about her incentive.  Stephen Bradbury is
unconvincing as the University President who
encourages the work of the two scientists.   Only
Geddeth Smith, as the old scientist who wants so much
to make real his “pet theory,” is totally believable.

This is not to say the performances are bad, they
aren’t.  They just lack texturing and the nuances
necessary to portray real people with real agendas. 
Part of this is caused by the script, part of it is
the directing.

Side note:  As has happened with most of the
productions in the poorly conceived Baxter Theatre,
‘RESTORING THE SUN’ isn’t aided by the configuration. 
It can only be hoped that new CPH Artistic Director
Michael Bloom will recognize the folly of the space
and not use it in the future.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:   The Cleveland Play House should be
applauded for producing a new play.  It should also be
applauded for presenting a vehicle which probes a
fascinating topic.  Unfortunately, neither the script
nor the production live up to their potential.  

For tickets to ‘RESTORING THE SUN’ which runs through
April 17 in the Baxter Theatre of the Cleveland Play
House call 216-795-7000 or go on-line to
www.clevelandplayhouse.com.   Tickets are $10 for high
school and college students, there is a senior
discount of $10 for persons aged 60 and older, family
nights every Tuesday allow for one complimentary
ticket issued to anyone aged 12-17 with the purchase
of an adult ticket, regular prices are $42-49.50.


Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


		
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>From groundworksmailinglist" <groundworksmailinglist at groundworksdance.org  Mon Mar 28 14:04:01 2005
From: groundworksmailinglist" <groundworksmailinglist at groundworksdance.org (groundworksmailinglist)
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 06:04:01 -0800
Subject: [NEohioPAL]Performances this week at CPT!
Message-ID: <20050328140039.AA349A2C00 at coyote.dreamhost.com>

Please join us at Cleveland Public Theatre this week!

GroundWorks will perform March 31 – April 3 at CPT’s Gordon Square Theatre located at 6415 Detroit Avenue, (corner of West 65th St.) in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Performances:
Thursday, March 31 7:30pm
Fri. and Sat. April 1 & 2 at 8pm
Sunday April 3, 3pm

Young Professional Night Thursday, March 31st. Meet and Greet with the dancers and other area professionals and enjoy a wine and cheese recpetion. All only $10 QUOTE CODE: YP

Tickets $10-$24
Call CPT at 216-631-2727

See you there!

www.groundworkstheater.org

................................................................
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