[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Little Foxes" at Cleveland Play House

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

CPH's 'The Little Foxes' a graceful, gorgeous bit of family dysfunction

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 



This review will appear in the CJN on 9/26/14

 

 

It is near impossible not to like everything there is about Lillian Hellman's 1939 classic "The Little Foxes" and Cleveland Play House's delectable production of it.

 

Full of sharp-witted, southern-fried family dysfunction that is as repulsive as it is alluring, "The Little Foxes" revolves around what remains of the predatory Hubbard clan - ruthless and cunning Regina, her wily brother Ben, and impulsive brother Oscar - who live in the Deep South at the start of the 20th century.  

 

The three siblings fall into a business partnership that will allow them to rise from the privileged 1% to the highly coveted 0.1%.  Their forbearers harvested their sizable merchant profits by heartlessly taking advantage of newly freed slaves.  The Hubbards of 1900 are looking to expand the family dynasty by embracing this family legacy and exploiting poor Blacks willing to work at their new Cotton Mill for paltry wages.  

 

The Hubbards are based on lower branches of Hellman's own family tree: her maternal grandmother Sophie Marx - a German Jew who settled in New Orleans in the 1850s - and Sophie's scheming and cheating brothers.  However, the siblings in Hellman's play are willing to eat their own for a greater share of the profits, and smile while doing so. 

 

The play is infused with the subtle social commentary that helped land Hellman on the U.S. government's blacklist in the 1950s.  It gives voice to Marxist disapproval of the predatory capitalism that Hellman felt threatened the American ethic in the 1930s.   "There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the Locusts," says Regina's cook, Addie, referring to the Hubbards.  "Sometimes I think it ain't right to stand and watch them do it."  Hellman, in her play, does not.  

 

The playwright also calls attention to the obstacles faced by women seeking financial independence and social equality, best personified by Regina.  Hellman does not stand idly by for this injustice either. 

 

The role of Regina was a star vehicle for Tallulah Bankhead in the original Broadway production and for Bette Davis in the 1941 film.  In this CPH production, the marvelous Maggie Lacy's Regina is every bit as present, prominent and powerful.  However, the actress allows fleeting moments of vulnerability to peek through her character's interactions with her brothers.  

 

Regina is still venomous - and Lacy plays this to the hilt - but the occasional exposure of her soft underbelly opens up creative opportunities for others, which turns this play into more of an ensemble piece.  And the ensemble is wonderful.

 

Donald Carrier is superb as Regina's estranged husband Horace Giddens, a wealthy businessman weakened by a serious heart condition.  His character's good character helps showcase Regina's ruthlessness by offering a viable counterpoint.  Their young daughter Alexandra, played with great charm by Megan King, and Regina's genteel sister-in-law Birdie, played with delicate pathos by Heather Anderson Boll, serve the same function and do so brilliantly.

 

Cameron Folmar gives flesh and blood to ever-scheming brother Ben and adds a disarming sense of calm resolve.  This penetrates Regina's aggressive game face and, for the audience, is recognizable as a viable characteristic of early-20th century opportunists and modern-day corporate executives.

 

Jerry Richardson, as the boorish and explosive Oscar, does a wonderful job of devaluing his family in an effort to enforce old fashioned family values.  Absorbing much of his wrath is Oscar and Birdie's morally weak son, Leo, well played by Nick Barbato.

 

Very strong support comes from Sherrie Tolliver as Addie, Robert Ellis as Chicago businessman William Marshall, and Kim Sullivan as Regina's butler Cal.  

 

As is often the case at the CPH, the scenic design in this production is breathtaking.  The Allen Theatre stage is filled from wings to rafters with Lex Liang's rendering of the Gidden's grand southern drawing room, where all the play's action takes place.  It comes complete with exceptionally tall walls, a sweeping carpeted staircase, a massive fireplace, an arched hallway and a formal dining room in the rear that is partitioned off by glass doors.  

 

At odds with this gorgeous set design and the period in which it exists is its simple décor.  The set has expensive furnishings but is void of artwork, wall hangings and other blatant artifacts of wealth, which undermines the exhibitionism so clearly on display in the classic costuming Liang also designed.  

 

Yet, this lack of clutter accentuates the effortlessness with which director Laura Kepley has her characters move through their world and gracefully engage one other.even when the intention is back-stabbing or subterfuge.  As with everything Kepley brings to this production, this works as well.

 

The CPH opens its 2014-15 season - the theater's 99th season of operation - on a high note.

 

WHAT:            "The Little Foxes"

WHERE:        The Allen Theatre, PlayhouseSquare in downtown Cleveland

WHEN:           Through October 5

TICKETS:       $15 - $79, call 216-241-6000 or visit to clevelandplayhouse.com 

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20140925/aa26dc84/attachment.htm>