[NEohioPAL]Berko review: NOCTURNE (Emsemble)

[Roy Berko]

‘NOCTURNE’ hits wrong notes at ENSEMBLE

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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

‘NOCTURNE’, Paul Zachary’s play, with music by
Jonathan Markow, is getting its world premiere at
Ensemble Theatre.   The show, which is a mix of live
jazz music and spoken words, is the story of a sax
player who gave up his career in music to become a
“successful” married man.  His wife, who longs for the
exciting days of music and struggle, finds a former
jazz great panhandling and  becomes his “patron.”  She
visits the elderly blind African-American man
regularly, gives him money and cooks his meals.  The
husband, thinking she is having an affair, follows
her, meets her “lover,” and the husband is transformed
back into the man he and his wife want him to be.

In an interview done by Michael Gallucci earlier this
year, Licia Colombi indicated that her love affair
with the script started 25 years ago when she held a
staged reading while living in New York.  Columbi
indicated that over time, the project gathered dust as
its creators moved on to other jobs.  Last year,
Zachary decided to revive the work, contacted Colombi,
reconnected with Markow, and thus, Ensemble got its
chance to produce the play. 

Columbi states, “The play is a dream and jazz fuels
the dream.  Underlying the spoken lines, and in scene
transitions, jazz music reigns.  The music becomes
part of the dialogue.”  

And, that’s the rub....the music should underlay.  It
should underscore, set the tone and feel of the play. 
It should highlight the calm and accent the turbulent
moments.  Unfortunately, under Colombi’s misguided
direction, it doesn’t.  The musical sounds and vocal
tones don’t parallel each other.  Though an excellent
musician, Rob Williams’ sax is often too loud,
drowning out the actors.  The vocal tones of the
actors don’t parallel Williams’ sounds.  The
soulfulness becomes soulless.  

It’s the combination of music played without its
needed dramatic sound, a stilted writing style,
off-centered acting and poor direction that makes the
Ensemble production discordant.

The usual dependable Jeff Grover seems overwhelmed
with the part of Eldon, the musician gone awry.  His
acting is all on the surface, he fails to experience
the lines, thus he sounds and looks unbelievable.  

Valerie Young, another consistently good actress,
doesn’t fare much better as Eldon’s wife.  Again, the
lines don’t give her much to work with, and Colombi
hasn’t given her much guidance in how to be the
frustrated woman.  

Only Robert Williams, as the blind former Jazz great,
rises above the script and direction.  He has a good
touch with the character’s underpinnings and makes the
most of each of his scenes.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘NOCTURNE’ needed a dramaturg to
help guide the writer’s touch because the concept is
good, but the end product is weak.  It also needed a
director who could get the most out of her actors and
blend the music and the voices to their best effect. 
Unfortunately, Ensemble’s production fails to hit its
required high notes.

‘NOCTURNE’ continues at Ensemble Theatre, located in
the Brooks Theatre in the Cleveland Play House complex
through  June 18.  For ticket information call
216-321-2930.


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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