"This isn't a madhouse, it's a dress rehearsal."
by Terrence Rattigan
directed by Ken Bachtold
Company of Players/Spotlight-On Festival - review by Louis Lopardi 10/27/02
In the English Midlands (read Midwest) of the 1940's, a rather personal troup of players are rehearsing Romeo And Juliet, at least until the real world intrudes in a variety of ways. Terrence Rattigan's farce, far from his best writing, here receives as good a reading as ever. Ken Bachtold directed his Company of Players with agility. Many of the theatre-life in-jokes were lost on this particular audience. A player quitting because he "must have gotten a film job" drew no laughs. But the reference to a "Ham sandwich" carried through.
Stephen Voutsas played the deluded company leader Arthur Gosport with appropriate demented grandness, and his Juliet - also demented and grand - was the powerful Alexandra Cremer. Her timing in some bits of visual humor was impeccable (for example, her deft removal of Romeo's hand from her face after a death scene). Their mum, ever dispensing advice, was Susan Scudder in a delicious cameo. The Stage Manager Jack was Neil Van Kerkhove, who convincingly managed the two-sided personality the role demands. He was a true Shavian mouthpiece; with a real sneer he delivered such lines as "What has life to do with the theatre?"
There were surprises. Karin Clermont as a possibly illegitimate daughter of Gosport's brought sparkle and depth to what could be a merely comic role. She was well supported by an eager puppy of a husband, Slade Decker. The very well rounded comic supporting cast: Richard Brennan, Tito Ruiz, Robert Madjerich, Amanda Hilson, Linda DiGiosaffatte, Paul Weissman and Brad Thomason.
Costumes (Bachtold & Scudder) were perfect. Lighting Design (Alexander Warner) did well with an ill-conceived repertory plot.