Brush Up Your Shakespeare For 'Exits and Entrances'

Exits and Entrances

By Athol Fugard

Directed by Chris Jorie; Patrick Lynch, Scenic Design; Eric Propp, Costume Design; John Malinowski, Lighting Design; David Wilson, Sound Design; Basia Goszczynska, Properties Design; Amy Weissenstein, Stage Manager

CAST Will Lyman (André), Ross MacDonald (The Playwright)

Performances through March 15 at New Repertory Theatre

Box Office 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org

Backstage dramas afford us the opportunity to get to know the man behind the makeup, the artist as he really exists. In Exits and Entrances, Athol Fugard gives us a look at two for the price of one - an actor and a playwright. The problem is that the latter is rather a dull boy, and the former does his best to convince us that he and Oedipus Rex are one and the same, sort of like Clark Kent and Superman. In fact, André Huguenet spouts so many of the King's lines, it begs the question: Why didn't New Rep just mount a production of the work of the Bard of Avon, rather than this two-hander by the South African playwright?

Will Lyman does a worthy turn as the aging actor, giving a master class in his rendition of the final scene as Oedipus, as well as the guilt-ridden Cardinal in The Prisoner. All eyes are fixed on him with rapt attention each time he recites a monologue or soliloquy, exceedingly well written by another author. Aside from a couple of speeches directed to the audience, The Playwright spends most of his time onstage gazing with adulation at the older man as he spins his stories about living amidst the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd. Ross MacDonald does what he can, but his Playwright is meant to take a backseat to the larger than life André. When he ignores the fourth wall, he is animated and his eyes sparkle as he remembers his associations with André, but the fact remains that his role is more narrator than participant.

Exits and Entrances focuses on the relationship between the young man with the budding career and the aging (50!) thespian suffering from the end stage of his vocation. Their brief encounters occur five years apart in dressing rooms backstage in the South African theatres where André is performing. In their first scene together, The Playwright is like a sponge, soaking up the greatness of his mentor even as he admits that his similarities to Oedipus include pride, arrogance, vanity, and selfishness. He is a willing audience as André recounts his youth and shares how he was drawn into the theatrical life. When next they meet, both men have endured changes personally and globally. The actor is playing his final role and accepting his status with grace and humility. The Playwright is about to become a father and views the world more realistically, being moved by recent political developments in their homeland, particularly the Sharpeville massacre. Throughout the play, Apartheid hovers as a wedge issue between the two men. The Playwright comes to see it as his responsibility to speak out through his art, while the actor views his craft as more personal than political.

On the plus side, Exits and Entrances offers a sneak peek behind the scenes, complete with the actor applying his makeup, running lines, and changing costumes. Fugard's narrative of this 30 year journey is convincingly etched by Lyman, transforming from the proud and arrogant portrayer of Oedipus, to the diminished, humble man of later years. The unit set by Patrick Lynch evokes the dressing room with a clothes rack, a makeup table, a couple of chairs, and the backside of scenery. John Malinowski uses lighting to good effect to indicate when the actor is performing a scene and to segregate The Playwright when he delivers a monologue.

However, there is little action during the 90 minutes; other than André's moments onstage, most of E & E consists of telling rather than showing. Director Chris Jorie paces it well and makes use of the whole space to augment a very static play. Fugard wrote this vehicle to celebrate theatre and present his ideas about its relevance and significance, chiefly in an oppressive society. In these difficult and uncertain times for the arts, I applaud his intentions, but most of the credit belongs to William Shakespeare.

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