Review: 2nd Story's production of 'The Misanthrope'

2nd Story Theatre was founded in 1978 by Pat Hegnauer and Ed Shea. In 2001 the theatre found a permanent home in a converted church in Warren, RI.

The theater also operates The Downstairs Bistro, which is in the former parish hall space on the first floor of the theater. The Bistro has a full menu and bar and is open on performance nights only.

April 13, 2006 was opening night for 2nd Story's production of Moliere's "The Misanthrope", translated by Richard Wilbur. "The Misanthrope" is 2nd Story's third production of a full-length Moliere play.

Pulitzer Prize winner, Richard Wilbur published his translation of Moliere's "The Misanthrope" in 1955. It was the first of six Moliere plays he has translated. On his translation he said, "It occurred to me that translating The Misanthrope would be a good thing to do in itself, and might teach me something about poetry in the theater. I don't think I had any thoughts about performance when I started out. I was simply producing, I hoped, a finished reading version."

What Mr. Wilbur has produced, under the direction of 2nd Story's Ed Shea, is a wickedly amusing evening of theater.

2nd Story has set "The Misanthrope" in the antebellum South with all of its saccharine-sweet gentility and a generous helping of busybody. "Wilbur's flowery language suits the southern dialect," says Shea. "This play is about saying one thing and meaning another. The southern mask of gentility is the closest thing is the closest thing in our American culture to the pretense of Moliere's Parisian Court"

The costume design by Ron Cesario goes a long way towards drawing a not-so-subtle line directly from "The Misanthrope" to "Gone with the Wind". The women wear enormous hoop skirts and the gentlemen are costumed in cutaway coats with vivid patterns. Cesario's design of Celimene's costume gives more than a broad nod to Scarlett O'Hara. An enormous hairpiece of brunette ring-curls attached to the back of Lara Hakeem's head and a well-timed, "fiddle-de-de", complete the homage.

The roles of main protagonists, Ed Shea as Alceste and Lara Hakeem as Celimene, are played nimbly by the actors. Shea and Hakeem, along with the entire cast, deliver the sing-song, rhyming dialogue at "Tommy Gun" speed, (kind of like Rev. Jesse Jackson on extreme fast forward). There is an abundance of clever dialogue, expertly delivered. There is a noticeable absence of the musical comedy, two-beat wait, after a clever line is delivered. There are too many clever lines like, "I shall ever be in her debt for setting up this tete a tete.", and not enough time.

Scenes are bridged by the private moments of Celimene grooving to the bluesy sounds of Janice Joplin and Aretha Franklin. This adds another genre to an already genre-heavy production, but it works and gives the audience time to catch their breath. I especially liked hearing Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" in the moments before the production started.

This production of Moliere's "The Misanthrope" takes the path of keeping the comedy accessible to any audience, while keeping it witty enough to keep any audience entertained.

 

"The Misanthrope", translated by Richard Wilbur runs from April 13-May 7, 2006, with evening performances Thursday through Saturday, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m.

 

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