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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It's girls gone Wilde
at GLTF production <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald,
</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">10/8/10<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Those into theatrical orienteering—that is, triangulating,
mapping out and attending multiple productions of the same play—are in for a
field day with Oscar Wilde’s <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">An Ideal
Husband</I>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>This brilliant piece of 19<SUP>th</SUP>-century social
satire is playing simultaneously, albeit with differing <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>approaches, at the Shaw Festival in
Niagara-on-the-Lake, at the Lakeland Civic Theatre (see October 1 <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald</I> review) and, until October
31, at PlayhouseSquare's Hanna Theatre by the Great Lakes Theater Festival.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The play takes
place in London in 1893 and revolves around the good and honest Sir Robert
Chiltern, the under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Fate catches up to Sir Robert when an
old letter that reveals a past misdeed avails itself and he is blackmailed.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He must choose between a very public
scandal that would ruin his political career and the private shame of his
adoring wife, who thought she had married a paragon of ethical standards and the
pillar of virtue in politics.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>In the Shaw Festival production of </SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>An
Ideal Husband</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>, a
<SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">sweeping
staircase, dark and foreboding costuming, and theatrical lighting accentuate all
that is dramatic and deeply political about Wilde’s work.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Lakeland’s minimalist take on the play concentrates on the poetry and
poignancy in Wilde’s words.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
dialogue between the privileged </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>“beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics” <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">that populate
this play, armed with competing philosophies about the mores of modern society,
is strip mined for its social commentary and comedy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>The GLTG production is more of a morality play, with greater emphasis
placed on the ethical extremes that surface throughout this piece.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Those extremes are personified by Lady
Gertrude Chiltern, the highly idealist wife of the ideal husband, and the
morally bankrupt blackmailer Mrs. Laura Cheveley.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>The play itself revolves around Sir Robert, who actor Richard Klautsch
turns into a wonderfully textured and sympathetic character.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Most of the play’s humor comes courtesy
of Sir Robert’s best friend Viscount Goring, a role custom made for the likes of
David Anthony Smith, who embraces and embellishes all that is comedic while
still managing to add layers of charm and nearly stealing the
show.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>This production, however, is all about the ladies.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Wilde’s writing is at its best when
women speak their minds, and director Sari Ketter and her production crew do
much to place the moral standoff between Lady Gertrude and Mrs. Cheveley center
stage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>For one thing, they actually place these two women center stage as much
as possible to make what they represent the focus of our attention and central
to everything that is transpires.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>They also thinly veil this production within the pretense of a fairy
tale, as if its broadly drawn characters just stepped out of a storybook to
enact another timeless tale about good overcoming evil in a world imbued with
fantasy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The lyrical nature of
Wilde’s words, the idyllic existence of the Chilterns, and the ideological
extremes of the leading ladies are quite conducive to this bit of poetic
license.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Costume designer Jason Resler color-codes characters accordingly, with
Mrs. Cheveley draped in heavy fabrics with dark shades of blood-red and Lady
Gertrude wearing light hued and airy gowns.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nayna Ramey’s scenic design has a
timeless, ever after quality to it, offering little more than marble steps and
pillars, tables and chairs, and assorted artifacts to add atmosphere to the
space. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Laura Perrotta’s Mrs. Cheveley is very much the evil Queen/step mother
prototype, offering a severely beautiful façade that transparently cloaks the
bile below the surface. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She is a
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #343434; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">tarantula
in taffeta, prowling the territory and weaving the web of deceit that drives
this production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Perrotta’s
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>overly dramatic presentation is a bit much at times and a tad
Disney-esque (when she stands near a bowl of apples, it is easy to imagine a
poison one in the bunch), but she owns the stage with her presence and is a
pleasure to watch.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Jodi Dominick’s Lady Gertrude is the perfect counterpoint.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She renders her character’s high
standards and expectations for her husband as acts of adoration rather than
idolization, which both softens her implicit rigidity while bolstering her
defense against Mrs. Cheveley.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Dominick’s moments on stage are wonderful.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>So are those of Sara Bruner, whose high-octane portrayal of Count
Goring’s love interest, Miss Mabel Chiltern, is pure delight.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Building on the fairy tale motif, scene changes are performed by
dedicated house staff as if they were magically transformed house mice, stepping
in perfect unison and making much ado about moving a chair or two.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is a distraction from what Wilde
brings to the table, but it is a pleasant distraction.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Those inclined to choose one <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">An
Ideal Husband</I> production over another would do well to follow the advice of
a storybook female created by <SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Robert
Southey,</SPAN> a contemporary of Wilde’s.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>She would suggest that <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">Shaw is too
hard, Lakeland is too soft, but the GLTF production is just
right.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">An
Ideal Husband </SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">continues in
repertory with <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Othello</I> through
October 31 at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre in downtown Cleveland.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $13 to
$70, call 216-241-6000 or visit <B><A href=""><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.greatlakestheater.org</FONT></SPAN></A>.<o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>