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Like the Bard of Avon, Goldsmith uses elaborate misunderstandings and untimely entrances to propel his comedy, but his language is much less trying on the modern ear than Shakespeare's. The temptation is to regard She Stoops to Conquer as a canonical work concerning social class and women's changing roles. Really, Goldsmith's play is fluff, but when in talented hands, what delightful fluff! At the old Hardcastle house, Squire Hardcastle plans to introduce his daughter, Kate, to the son of family friend Sir Marlow. The Squire readies his house and his bumbling servants for the visit. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardcastle is busy arranging the marriage of two young relatives, Constance Neville and Tony Lumpkin. Alas, poor Tony just wants to inherit his money and spend it all getting drunk with his buddies. After one of his nightly debauches, who should Tony happen to meet but the young Marlow and his companion, Hastings, on their way to the Hardcastles. On a lark, Tony tells the two gentlemen they are miles from their destination, suggests they retire to an inn, and directs them, in fact, to the Hardcastle house. Naturally, young Marlow assumes the Squire to be a common host and the two men immediately form the worst opinion about one another. When Kate learns of this confusion, she opts to pursue the game, pretending to be a lowly barmaid. From this comes the play's title. The misinformed young Marlow is played by Quinn Mattfeld, a recipient of awards for outstanding student acting. This merit is much deserved. Mattfeld's performance is deft and extremely engaging; he's already learned to make the comic best of even throw-away lines. Bekki Barnhardt plays Kate with a marvelous blend of coyness and grace. Her composure on stage is strong enough to counterpoise Mattfeld's acting and their first meeting is a high point of the play. As Squire Hardcastle, Rowan Morrison's grand voice carries well through the cavernous Robinson Theatre. Morrison's facial expressions also speak volumes but he seemed to make an undue habit of leaning forward at the waist whenever he delivered a line. Minnie Goode, Mrs. Hardcastle, earns laughs with her squeaky hysterics and Kimberly Bates presents an animated, almost juvenile Constance. Both actresses, however, must endeavor to be heard clearly in such a large space. Other noteworthy performances include Brian Henderson as Hastings and Curtis Williams as the ever drunken Lumpkin. The Hardcastle servants are also a fine bunch of goofballs, but must not let their cockney accents become too muddied. The costumes are sumptuous. The set is simple, yet inspired. But the true star of this production is its director, Jack Watson, who takes every available opportunity to illuminate the comic potential inherent within Goldsmith's script. Sight gags and pratfalls abound. The play is laden with such bits, many of which are not scripted, but arose from what likely was an uproarious rehearsal process. Sustaining a quick pace is essential to the success of this sort of play and Watson, using some clever devices, establishes the required tempo from the opening moments. If the actors appear to have a little difficulty keeping up this pace in the second act, attribute it not so much to them, but to the fact that Goldsmith's pay-off just can't quite equal his wonderful set-up. Even so, this performance rewards the audience with laughs and surprises throughout. She Stoops to Conquer is an ideal vehicle for displaying some of the finer talents in the University Theatre program. Some people may find it still too stiff and wordy for their tastes, but this production does an admirable job of showing just how much a 200-year-old play can appeal to a modern audience. Goldsmith's comedy runs across the Robinson boards until Nov. 18th.
I love a mystery. I especially love Christie, and you are not going to pry one bit of information about the plot from me. I will tell you that the butler did not do it. The Ralston's could not afford domestic servants. Christie is a genre. Her works are never dusty nor dated. I welcome my aging and accelerating memory loss so I can re-read Christie every day with no less anticipation. I went because I wanted to see the richest of stereotyped characters. (Christie is all about characterization.) I hoped for a dark and stormy night. I needed a house with a dining room, a library, a drawing room, a cellar and a squeaky door. I wanted the lights to go off accompanied by a shrill scream. I had to see everybody gather in the living room so the detective could quiz the suspects and announce the killer. This production gave me everything and I couldn't figure out who did it. It doesn't get any better than that. Give Director Eileen Kearney full credit for this effort and for her vision of replicating the London production. She is a master at teaching British stylized acting and pulls maximum performances from her actors. Her casting was inspired and her technicians effective. Skip Hubbard, scenic designer, convincingly recreated the London production's fun, mood-setting set. Sue Surdam Bean, costume designer, once again, provides flawless accurate costuming. Triple bravos to Christine Sevilla, hair designer. Take note of the 1940s hairstyles on the three women. Rachel Beck (Molly Ralston) is the best screamer since Faye Wray. Evan Elwell (Giles Ralston) plays a wonderful Mr. Rogers, but seemed out of place as a Christie stereotype. Dandy Pond (Mrs. Boyle), a nagging crone, owns her character. Laurel Sturgis (Miss Casewell) turns in a performance with depth, from modern woman to compassionate soul. Larry Arsenaul (Major Metcalf) has the best British accent and puts Colonel Mustard back in the jar. Christopher Henderson (Christopher Wren) plays a wonderful fop and the audience loved him, yet he plays more of a Moliére character that seemed out of place in this play. If Christie invented him, Wren should be rewritten. This type of exaggerated stereotype is tiresome. The question here is did the character come from the actor, the director or the author? I have questioned the practice of faculty members playing roles that could be played by students. Patrick Torelle (Mr. Paravicini) just changed my mind. An experienced actor raises the standard of performance for the entire cast. His performance as the mysterious stranger was outstanding and inspiring. A few problems should be ironed out. Props were dropped. Curtains fell down and the rocking chair by the fireplace rocked incessantly and annoyingly. Detective Sergeant Trotter (Chalan Moon) kept tripping over his lines, but he had to talk fast in order to find the murderer by the end of the play. You don't have to be a theater junkie to love this play. It is pure fun: refined suspense that goes down sweet as sugar. Kids will be riveted to their seats by the amazing characterizations. Mystery lovers will have an impossible time solving the plot. This is a great date play and an outstanding family outing. This play has run nearly 20,000 performances over 48 years in its London production. The LCC production continues Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm through Nov. 18 with a 2 pm Sunday matinée on Nov 12. LCC should consider extending this production and opening it up for senior and elementary school showings.
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