BWW Reviews: Kate Burton Shines in Williamstown's HAPGOOD

You will not read much about the plot of HAPGOOD here. It isn't that Tom Stoppard's play is some sort of Agatha Christie Mousetrap thriller with a surprise ending that must never be revealed. Rather it is that in this clever blend of James Bond spy-on-spy story spiced with particle physics you are taking a bite of what is arguably the biggest pile of theatrical spaghetti ever offered an audience. But unlike a plate of pasta, HAPGOOD is not comfort food for the theatre-goers soul; instead it is mostly empty calories for the mind.

Nevertheless, if you enjoy savage satire and the skewering of conventional storytelling formats - especially spy novels and films - these calories could turn out to be not be quite so empty after all, but deliciously complex. Stoppard's outings can be very nourishing indeed, at least for those who despise the formulaic tripe that so often passes as contemporary art.

With Kate Burton at the helm of a British spy agency, surrounded by her male operatives, "Mother," as HAPGOOD is called, is always a step ahead of the lot of them, and hurling witticisms like hand grenades, she clearly revels in Stoppard's one liners. By following her logic you can tell the good guys from the bad. Maybe.

The twisted strands of the story begin in a whirl of arrivals and departures, a dozen locker room doors opening and closing, changed clothes and switched briefcases, a sort of three-card monte played with ghostly human beings in which you can't tell the shills from the shells. And as it turns out in this first shuffle, everyone loses.

Of course puzzles are Stoppard's strong suit, and while the first set-up is fairly easy to explain, it isn't really answered until almost two hours later when the show reaches its conclusion. In between we have an unconventional spy story that goes further and further astray.

The staging of this tale is one of the most imaginative ever on the Williamstown Theatre Festival stage, as a platoon of anonymous company members shifts blocks of doors, desks and chairs into a dozen different configurations of locations in London, 1987. Two guys named Christopher (Barreca and Heilman) created the innovative set designs, working with lighting designer Donald Holder to create the most flexible and fluid scenic setup you will likely ever see on any stage. At one point I counted 17 doors running diagonally from downstage right to upstage left, an effect that was surrealistic, breathtaking and believable at the same time. At moments I wished the often glaring lights were masked better - there wasn't a single teaser, tormenter or effort at masking on the bare-bones stage, yet in retrospect it all worked to keep me - and the audience - off guard and in constant suspense. Thus Stoppard's HAPGOOD is as blinding in its brilliance as it is baffling in its purpose.

Besides Burton as HAPGOOD (and "mother"), the authoritative Reed Birney (Blair) more than held his own even as the turmoil of the plot swirled out of control around him. Director Evan Yionoulis never let the complexities of Stoppard slow the characters down as he carefully parsed the script for each and every movement by the many characters in perfect order. (Ed. Note: Evan Yionoulis is a woman, not a man.) That many of the actors doubled as their own twins - three sets of them all told - let's hope this play does not make it to Broadway where the awards voters would have to decide which twin gets the Tony. (Drum roll, please.)

As Merryweather, Ridley, Meggs and Wates, the actors David Corenswet, Euan Morton, Sathya Sridharan and Victor Williams each did their characters proud, as did Adam Langdon in the role of Joe, Hapgood's son. Less successful was Jake Weber as the Russian Kerner whose physical performance was masterful, but whose character had an accent so impenetrable that many of his words and inflections were simply lost to me. Kerner is charged with explaining some complicated particle physics theories - and counterspy relationships - so this could well have been Stoppard's way of thickening the confusion.

Stoppard the playwright is never shy to wander off his story, either, if it makes a point. So we heard about everything he had on his mind as he wrote HAPGOOD, from God to Kant, Albert Einstein to the Seven Bridges of Kaliningrad.

But in the end, HAOGOOD must be reserved a place of honor in the small theatrical genre of what I call The Theatre of Obfuscation in which you go to see a play not for entertainment, but to figure out what the author is trying to say. Beckett is, of course, at the head of this small parade. The Williamstown Theatre Festival is to be commended for offering its sophisticated audiences such a bold choice. We noted that the run of this play was virtually sold out weeks before the first preview which reveals the legions of Stoppard (and Kate Burton) fans out there, eager to see this seldom performed script come alive. And it seems that no amount of return fire from the critics can ever kill it. HAPGOOD is forever.

Williamstown Theatre Festival presents HAPGOOD by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Evan Yionoulis. Sceneic Design by Christopher Barreca and Christopher Heilman; Costume Design by Michael Krass; Lighting Design by Donald Holder; Sound Design by Alex Neumann; Original Music |byMike Yionoulis. Cast: Reed Birney (Blair), Kate Burton (Hapgood/ Mother), David Corenswet (Merryweather), Adam Langdon (Joe), Euan Morton (Ridley), Sathya Sridharan (Maggs), Jake Weber (Kerner), Victor Williams (Wates). July 10 - 21, 2013 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival's Nikos Stage, Main Street, Williamstown, MA. www.wtfestival.org 413.597.3400

Photo: T. Charles Erickson

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