[NEohioPAL]Berko review: PACK OF LIES (Cesears Forum)

[Roy Berko]

‘PACK OF LIES’--interesting script, ponderous
production

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critic’s Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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

Hugh Whitemore’s ‘PACK OF LIES,’ now in production at
Cesear’s Forum, is based on the 1961 arrest of a
husband-and-wife Soviet spy team in England.  (The
couple were convicted and sentenced to twenty years
imprisonment.)  The spies, Americans Peter and Helen
Kroger (really Morris and Lona Cohen), appear to be a
typical suburban couple, but nothing could be farther
from the truth.

Set in London, the play reveals the stresses placed on
the up-tight and up-right Jackson family who get
thrust into the middle of an investigation by the
mysterious Stewart, who talks them into allowing
observers to spy on their neighbors by taking up
residency in the Jackson home. The family is
eventually forced to chose between loyalty to their
country and allegiance to their friends.

As Whitemore explains regarding the play and his
motivations (and which might be applied to the 2006
United States), "...in addition to the themes of
loyalty and deception, I became increasingly
preoccupied with the role of the ordinary citizen in
our society. Is it ever possible for the average,
relatively powerless man or woman to make anything
more than a token stand against officialdom? Is it not
potentially risky to allow the state (albeit for well
argued reasons) greater moral license than the
individual? Or is it, perhaps, naive to expect more
than an approximate degree of truthfulness from
governments and their spokesmen?"

In its various productions, the play has been called
“compelling,” “an exciting flash of history,” and “a
real who-done-it, which evokes attention.”

Unfortunately, none of these terms can be used to
identify Cesear’s production under the guidance of
director Greg Cesear.  The show is slow, beyond
sluggish.  The excitement, the humor, the
twists-and-turns are lost in the plodding pace.  The
matter is not helped by the uncomfortable seating in
Kennedy’s Down Under, where the play is being staged.

The cast varies from excellent to misguided.  Julia
Kolibab as Barbara Jackson, who is forced to chose
between friendship and forced honor, is excellent.  As
the stress builds, Kolibab, has a near nervous
breakdown before our eyes.  Though overly deliberate,
Steven Hoffman, is quite good as the husband who puts
aside his loyalty to his wife to do his perceived
civic duty.  Jennifer Mae Hoffman is basically
on-target as their teenage daughter.

Juliette Regnier, usually one of the area’s more
competent actresses, seems lost in the role of the
“ditsy” spy Helen.  She never settles into a
character.  If the real Helen couldn’t act any better
than Regnier, she would have been found out in an
instant.  Tom Jessup (Peter Kroger) never makes us
believe that the character is a real person.

Paul Floriano, who I always expect to be excellent,
disappoints, as he doesn’t ring true as Stewart, the
spy chaser.   His levels of concentration seemed to
leave him at times.   In several scenes with Steven
Hoffman, there appeared to be line problems.

Capsule judgment:  ‘PACK OF LIES’ is an interesting
play that gets less than a stellar production at
Cesear’s Forum.

‘PACK OF LIES’ continues through December 9 at
Kennedy’s Down Under in Playhouse Square.  For
tickets, which cost only $15 call 216-241-6000.



Roy Berko's theatre blog, which includes reviews of all recent plays, can be found at http://royberkinfo.blogspot.com  
      Information regarding his consulting and publications and older theatre reviews can be found at www.royberko.info.  
      Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly 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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