[NEohioPAL] Review of "Mark Twain" at Actors' Summit

[Bob Abelman]

For Actors' Summit, never the 'Twain' shall meet

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the Times papers 6/25/09

 

Mark Twain is one of the most quoted humorists in American history.  His brash optimism and common-sense observations about the human condition, as expressed through his many newspaper stories, travelogues, essays, novels, and speeches during the late-1800s, have provided a treasure trove of clever quips, entertaining anecdotes, and sage counsel.

 

Twain himself was a master storyteller with a mischievous, laid-back Missourian manner and trademark appearance.  It is little wonder that he and his work have become the subjects of numerous one-man shows created by actors and literary historians.   

 

The gold standard for these shows, Mark Twain Tonight, features award winning actor and Cleveland native Hal Holbrook.  Mr. Holbrook has been playing Mark Twain for 55 years, which is nearly as long as Mark Twain played Mark Twain.  He has performed his one-man show on tour and on the Broadway stage over 2100 times, including a short stint at PlayhouseSquare this past March.

 

Close on his heels is Ashland University theater professor Ric Goodwin, who has been performing as Twain for 28 years.  His 90-minute, one-act one-man show, Mark Twain: Semi-literate Lecturer, Liar & Loafer, is currently being staged by Actors' Summit in Hudson as part of its "American Mirrors" summer repertory festival.

 

The festival brings four small shows - three of which are one-man portraits of American cultural icons, including Twain, Nat "King" Cole and Clarence Darrow - to the Actors' Summit stage and the Hudson Library.

 

The show that Mr. Goodwin has developed and performs is a compilation of material that comes primarily from Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," "Roughing It," "Innocents Abroad" and "A Tramp Aboard," which are travelogues.  As such, it is a very different animal than Mr. Holbrook's work, which consists largely of excerpts from more humorous and profound essays including "The Damned Human Race."

 

The travelogues that dominate Mark Twain: Semi-literate Lecturer, Liar & Loafer take us on the many journeys that constituted Mark Twain's colorful life, but fall short on giving much insight into Twain's life or Twain himself.  Missing from these selected stories is material that brings his acerbic, back-handed wit to the forefront.  Missing is his infamous honey-dipped political incorrectness.  Missing is an explanation for the title of this show.  

 

The most apparent omission is the lack of connective tissue to provide smooth transitions from one story to the next and which tie all these stories together.  The playbill notes that "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."  This quote from "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was Twain's attempt to sidestep the controversial nature of his book by calling attention to its playfulness.  Unfortunately, a one-man show format demands the very qualities this quote denounces.

 

Playfulness is also missing from this show.  Mr. Goodwin is a fine Twain.  He certainly looks and sounds the part in his ivory-colored three piece suit, thick hairpiece, moustache and southern drawl, and he has obviously mastered the material.  What he lacks is the charm and mischievousness that so clearly seeps from Twain's words and permeates Mr. Holbrook's famed performances.

 

Mr. Holbrook's one-man show is a joyous celebration of the man and his musings.  Mr. Goodwin's is not and, in this regard, never the Twain shall meet.

 

Mark Twain: Semi-literate Lecturer, Liar & Loafer is an interesting and informative performance piece.  It is just not as entertaining as its namesake should inspire.  It plays in repertory until July 26 in nearby Hudson.
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