Arthur Miller's contribution featured the wonderful Mason Adams, who can give a virtuoso performance just clearing his throat. Being interviewed by a beautiful reporter as his garrulous character reached his hundredth year, Adams was funny and touching - complaining wistfully, as a Loman might do, of the country's loss of rusticity.
As the reporter, Julie Lauren hung on every word. But if the writer, director, or author had done more to tell the reporter's story, they could have avoided the inevitable question at play's end of relevance.
Thornton Wilder's posthumous contribution to the series sparkled with ominous drama as it wandered almost into science fiction to reveal the strangeness of everyday life.
James Murtaugh, Melinda Page Hamilton, and Rodney Clark gave creditable performances. But Deborah Hedwall was chilling as a wide-eyed, monstrous, 1950's homemaker who conforms to every convention, while flattening her family's life like a steamroller smothering cardboard dummies.
In "Flyboy," the inept parents (Christine Farrell and Dan Ziskie) of a troubled eight-year old (Adam Fox) are advised by monstrous "experts" (Salty Loeb, Ellen Mareneck, and Richard Mover) on how to deal with their son's escape into a fantasy world of ballroom lights and music. At least that's how the director visualized this jerky roller-coaster of a play.
If "A little child shall lead them" was the author's intended conclusion from the proceedings, it wasn't quite enough.
"Nicky" was a perfect role for Ilene Kristen in "A Dead Man's Apartment." As Nicky's wedding ring seems to tighten around her neck, she and her brother (Bill Cwikowski) and daughter (Alexondra Lee) stage a psychodrama for Nicky and her lover (David McConeghey) to play-act his fulfillment of a promise to leave his wife. Unfortunately, the stakes remain so low (a knife appears but never stabs) that when the plan fails, people simply leave by the stage door.
The acting, directing, and production values for all the plays
were good. Lourdes Garcia designed a colorful wardrobe for the
players to move within Kert Lundell's series of efficient sets.
Realistic sounds by Jeff Taylor and theatrical lighting by Greg
MacPherson were atmospheric and fine. Too bad they promised more
drama than the evening supplied.
Copyright 1999 Marshall Yaeger