Review - Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself)

It's a somewhat tricky business describing what makes Donald Margulies' new play, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself), a worthwhile venture without revealing details best discovered during the performance. Those familiar with the true story of de Rougemont will know exactly what I'm referring to but I'd advise those new to the facts to resist Googling for answers before taking in Primary Stages' charming new production.

What I will reveal, perhaps not made totally clear by Margulies, is that in 1898 the British World Wide Magazine began publishing what became immensely popular stories chronicling the Frenchman turned Brit's thirty years abroad. Leaving home as a teenager, his head filled with bedtime adventure stories told by his mom, young Louis sailed off on a pearl fishing expedition, where, after an encounter with a giant octopus, his ship was wrecked by a whirlpool and the lad was washed to the shore of an island off the Australian coast where he lived for decades with an Aboriginal bride before returning home.

Shipwrecked! might be seen as a recreation of the performances the author started giving the next year, describing his tale to music hall audiences, although director Lisa Peterson's production blurs the line between period and contemporary. Played on set designer Neil Patel's circular platform painted with a swirl that could represent either a whirlpool or a hypnotist's disc, costume designer Michael Krass has de Rougemont (Michael Countryman) dressed in the style of late-1800's Western Europe but his two supporting actors (Jeremy Bobb and Donnetta Lavinia Grays) sport looks clearly anchored in the 21st Century. Bobb and Grays double as sound effect masters in the small-scale production but while the chain of keys that sound designer John Gromada uses to simulate chimes seems perfectly Victorian, the bubble wrap popped to sound like a crackling fire is certainly of a more modern time.

Originally conceived as a play for young audiences, Shipwrecked! is written and performed with an appealing wide-eyed enthusiastic innocence; especially evident in the performance of Countryman, who gleefully narrates the tale with delightful gusto. While Grays plays for sincerity as both Louis' mother and wife, she gets to show off an animated cartoon swagger as a salty sea captain. Bobb gets the flashier supporting material and is very funny as the hero's faithful dog and as a stately Queen Victoria.

While Margulies could have opted for approaching the tale of Louis de Rougemont as a more complex exploration of the issues that crop up before the adventure is done, Shipwrecked!, as it stands, is an enjoyable theatrical yarn quite suitable for both adults and children with an attention span. (90 minutes with no intermission) And it's always good to have a few of them around.

Photos by James Leynse: Top: Michael Countryman; Bottom: Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Jeremy Bobb