[NEohioPAL] Review of CVLT's "Belles"

[Bob Abelman]

CVLT rings in familiar, formulaic 'Belles'

 

Bob Abelman

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

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 8/17/12

 

 

Mark Dunn's "Belles," currently in production at the Chagrin Valley Little Theater's River Street Playhouse, is hardly charting unfamiliar waters. 

 

This play's storytelling about sisterhood is so similar in tone and temperament to "Steel Magnolias" and "The Dixie Swim Club," as well as the films "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," that déjà vu washes over the audience as thickly as the play's blatant sentimentality.  From the opening lines to the closing moments, there is the sensation that you've been told this tale before.

 

Each of these stories is about close-knit southern women-sisters by blood or circumstance-who drift apart and are then drawn back together to overcome some significant obstacle.  

 

"Belles" is about six Memphis-born adult sisters who have scattered to different parts of the country after the death of their abusive father and estrangement from their high-maintenance mother.  They have developed coping mechanisms to deal with their problematic past that are as different as the sisters themselves and are no longer working as planned.  

 

Each of these stories tries to blend comedy with tragedy, offer cohesion amidst adversity, and play with emotion as if it were a piano.  They do so with varying degrees of success.  

 

"Belles" is among the least successful, offering barbs, one-liners and terms of endearment that are more clever and scripted than sincere or sisterly.  The writing is particularly artificial where it is most needed to be honest, and is imbalanced across the two hour-long acts.  When the writing is good, and it is upon occasion, this play soars.  

 

Each of these stories fully embraces the notion that misery loves company, resulting in non-stop self-disclosure by every woman in them.  The women tend to be conveniently situated in places conducive to baring their souls-beauty shops, beaches or flashbacks-and the most common topic of discussion is the men in their lives, who are rarely seen and even more rarely portrayed in a flattering light.

 

In "Belles," men are frequently mentioned but never seen and all the disclosure takes place over the telephone during intimate, isolated conversations between the sisters.  

 

Director Barbara Rhoades has extensive experience with sisterhood plays, including CVLT's brilliant production of "The Dixie Swim Club," and has had great success in recognizing and giving life to their formulaic conventions.  "Belles" presents some challenges that, as of last week's preview performance, have only been partially overcome.  

 

While phone conversations make for a novel narrative device, the lack of eye-contact and physical interaction between the performers does not make for great theater in general or this brand of dramedy in particular.  That is, unless the performers create truly endearing characters capable of being interesting all on their own and all of the time.  

 

Yvonne Pilarczyk, Denise Larkin, Claudia Lillibridge, Jenny Barrett, Macey Staninger and Sarah Doody shine in this play, although some shine brighter and more often than others.  Several scenes have an uneven feel when only one performer seems to be carrying the conversation.  A few dull, restless moments occur when neither does.  

 

The limitations of the River Street Playhouse facility further confound the production of this play.  With lighting too ill-equipped to isolate only those sisters involved in a conversation, extraneous parts of the small stage and those who occupy them are clearly visible.  This draws attention and is a huge distraction.  If a tad early or late, light cues for the play's 39 phone conversations run the risk of throwing off the comic and dramatic timing of the performers, which throws this production into a tailspin.

 

Given the talent behind and on the stage, this CVLT production should continue to get tighter and more refined with each performance.  And, while "Belles" is a highly formulaic piece of work, it will surely find an audience among those who find comfort in the familiar and get pleasure from the predictable. 

 

"Belles" continues through August 25 at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's River Street Playhouse, 40 River Street, Chagrin Falls.  For tickets, which are $10, call 440-247-8955 or visit www.cvlt.org.

 
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