Review: A Deluge of RAIN Pours Into the Old Globe

Rain/based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham/book by Sybille Pearson/music & lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa/directed by Barry Edelstein/Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage/Old Globe Theatre, San Diego/through May 1

You cannot beat the Old Globe Theatre for its audacity in mounting the world premiere of the challenging musical Rain, based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham. Rain was made into three separate films, a silent in 1928 starring Gloria Swanson, and then in 1932 starring Joan Crawford as Miss Sadie Thompson, and finally in 1953 Rita Hayworth assumed the role of the prostitute stranded on the South Pacific Island of Pago, Pago in 1924. This much anticipated musical version with book by Sybille Pearson and music by Michael John LaChiusa is the second time Rain has been performed onstage, the first being a play in 1923. For the entire cast and creative team in San Diego this enterprise has been enormous. It is truly an outstanding ensemble headed by Eden Espinosa as Sadie, and the set designed by Mark Wendland is by itself worth the price of admission.

The story involves an eclectic assortment of people who must spend time at the Horn Hotel on Pago Pago in Western Samoa when the crew of the ship they are traveling on is quarantined. The weather on Pago Pago is a relentless downpour of torrential rain. It is the perfect ambiance and mood for the play's theme of religiously repressed sexual tension that produces a fury all its own - drums consistently pounding in the background - for the lives of the seven main characters. There are three married couples: the owners Jo and Noi Noi (Jeremy Davis and Marie-France Arcilla, respectively), he of Scottish descent and she a Samoan... the only ones who are truly happy. Then there are Dr. Alec Macphail (Tally Sessions) and his wife Louisa (Betsy Morgan). Their unhappiness stems from his drinking and an arduous period of miscommunication. The remaining couple are the most complex, missionaries Alfred Davidson (Jared Zirilli) and wife Anna (Elizabeth A. Davis). He is struggling with his faith in God, and she is desperate to lead him on the path of righteousness, even if it means alienating everyone around her. Prostitute Miss Sadie Thompson (Eden Espinosa), traveling alone, becomes the object of Davidson's obsession. To save himself, he must save her soul, sacrificing her to the will of God. But first she must repent. Sadie Thompson is willful, and even with only thirteen dollars to her name, is determined to get herself to Melbourne, Australia, where she hopes to amend her ways and make a fresh start.

Sybille Pearson's stage adaptation has made some changes to the film scripts. The most obvious one is the character expansion of Jo and Noi Noi, the happy couple who run the hotel. They are the onlookers, almost the narrators of the musical. Noi Noi hates the intrusion of the foreigners into their home, and refuses to give up her freedom in the midst of religious and sexual tension. Pregnant with their first child, she still openly gives herself to Jo for sexual pleasure and extends her beliefs by teaching Louisa how to win back the love of Alec. ("The English Lesson"). The other major change to the story is keeping Sadie independent. There is no character that proposes marriage to her, as in the films; Davidson's rape is, in fact, her only sexual connection to a man in the hotel. At the end, alone, she is left to utter "All men are pigs." She goes off, marching to the tune of her own drummer, dressed to the nines in a red silk dress, to find her own brand of happiness.

Michael John LaChiusa's music is not hummable, but offers some quite miraculous interior monologues for the various characters. Examples of this may be found in Sadie's love of hooch "Sunshine"; Anna's relentless religious fervor in "Don't Forget What You Know"; Alec's torment with "The Noise", and Alfred's excuse in "Takes Some People Longer". Other tunes like "Only the Rain Stays the Same", Noi Noi's native "Malo (Hello)" and Jo's Scot folk song "Laka and Johnny Boy" add much diversity and color to the proceedings.

The ensemble are incredibly real and over the moon sensational. Zirilli is sexually appealing and desperately pained as Davidson; Sessions as Alec is caring yet secretive and disillusioned; Davis is unrelenting and staunch in her commitment to move the mission forward; Morgan is likable and sympathetic in her attempts to win back Alec; both Arcilla and Davis are joyful in their almost childlike state of euphoria and marital bliss. Espinosa, a wonderfully resourceful musical performer, rather underplays Sadie. Her moments of truth are quiet and believable, but, at this juncture, she is still searching for aspects of the character. I wanted some moments to be bigger, to see her in the star spotlight, but it never happened. Again, this may be Barry Edelstein's choice as director, for, after all is said and done, Rain is more stunning and meaningful as an ensemble piece than as a star vehicle. Praise as well to Rusty Ross and Mike Sears as two sailors who party in Sadie's room.

The set in Rain is truly a marvel, another character in the play. Act One: the hotel is set on a revolving stage, as we are getting to know these people, one angle at a time. Act Two shows us things from a different angle. There are four rooms on two levels facing front, two upper and two lower. It allows us to take a long look at these people and examine their behavior, as they interact by themselves and with the others. The set opens up, so that part of the action is played on the bare stage in the middle, which represents the beach below the hotel, a great effect for the seduction of Sadie by Davidson, and also for some of the monologues that follow, particularly that of Alec's confession to Louisa... and Anna's sorrowful, yet purposeful leave-taking of her husband. The set was expertly converted by stage hands during the intermission...a mere fifteen minutes. Kudos as well to Katherine Roth, whose period costumes bring back the 20s in a differing cultural setting.

Rain has a few flaws, but with so many positive things going for it, it is worthy of your time... and should have legs. It is especially fruitful in allowing us to look back almost 100 years, and to judge how much cultures may have changed. Is the process of love and spirit of living really that drastically different today? You decide.

www.theoldglob

https://youtu.be/Uq5h_0X5HLY

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