BWW Reviews: THE HEIRESS at Theatre Artists Studio

The Heiress, Ruth and Augustus Goetz' award winning 1947 drama based on Henry James' 1880 novel, Washington Square, is in 2015 a tired, tedious, and entirely predictable chestnut. Theatre Artists Studio, which has had its share of theatrical wins this year, has not fared well in resurrecting it to the fiery psychological drama and social critique that the promos have proclaimed it to be. There was a time, perhaps, before PBS and Lifetime, when it would have been. Notwithstanding its periodic revivals, it falls flat.

It is in today's repertoire a simple plot, the seed of an oft-played soap opera. A well-groomed but resourceless young man woos the timid and self-effacing daughter of a wealthy widower. The father surmises that the beau is a fortune hunter. Of course, love is blind and the need for affirmation is great, and so, the daughter is seduced into believing that beau's proclaimed love and a proposal of marriage are true. Father devises a strategy to test true love. Strategy backfires. Beau wants to elope. Daughter fears disinheritance and tells beau so. Beau flees. Two years later, beau returns to plead his case ~ now that father is dead and inheritance belongs solely to daughter. Daughter has become a bit more worldly-savvy. Arc of bitter sweet revenge brings down the curtain.

What may save a period piece like this are nuanced performances wherein the lines of character are deeply etched and surface almost organically, rightly paced and revealed ~ where the audience may discern hints of the characters' motivations and intentions in the way the weave their lines or glance ~ where lighting creates fitting mood. Not so in the production that I saw.

Yet, one bright light glittered amidst the stilted and unconvincing performances. It was that of Judy Lebeau as Lavinia Penniman, the father's widowed sister who acts as daughter's confidant and cheerleader. Ms. Lebeau delivers, as she is wont to do, a compelling, believable, and touching performance as the well-intentioned but practical romantic who, in the end, opines that "My dear, life can be very long for a woman alone." Lebeau is the thread that makes this production whole ~ a joy to watch as she defines and evolves her character.

Directed by Carol MacLeod, the Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Artists Studio, the cast also includes Stephen Mastroieni (Dr. Austin Sloper), Kent Welborn (Morris Townsend, the beau), Heidi Haggerty, Ashley Faulkner, Susan Back, Steven Fajardo, and Alexandra Erario.

The show runs from February 27th through March 15th.

Photo credit to Mark Gluckman

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