| . | 04/27/2008
The Country Girl
By: Simon Saltzman
Francis McDormand, Morgan Freeman and Peter Gallagher
(photo: Brigitte Lacombe)
A lot of fine talent has gone into this latest production of Clifford Odet’s literate, trenchant and emotionally-driven 1950 back-stage drama, but to what purpose and effect? In the end, this is a sadly misguided and disengaging production that makes you wonder what in the world was the lauded and respected director Mike Nichols thinking, and what has gone so terribly wrong in the staging, with or without the “material revisions” of the script by John Robin Baitz?
Under close scrutiny, the play itself makes plenty of powerful and timeless statements on the fear of failure, the effects of destructive and constructive love in treating alcoholism and the general vulnerability and gullibility of people in “the profession.” The plot revolves around a stubborn director who attempts to get an unreliable actor previously hired as an understudy to suddenly take over the leading role while he also copes with the actor’s interfering wife.
Somehow, somewhere, the play’s only vivid nod to reality is the line by Bernie Todd (Peter Gallagher), the relentlessly supportive (maybe stupid?) director in the play, when he says, “We can stay out until we are letter perfect, the season’s young.” The director’s decision was wise one. Too bad that Nichols didn’t heed that advice and start this revival on the road and maybe even kept it there.
At the performance I saw, Frances McDormand (who has never before failed to be interesting to watch), seemed a long way from creating a compelling or convincing Georgie, the famously over protective but devoted wife. She is, however, appropriately drab in her appearance. What is crucially missing from her portrayal is making us think that her self-sacrifice might be tainted with her own self-serving motives. For the most part, she doesn’t indicate more than a wife simply being resigned to living with a loser.
Morgan Freeman, an actor with many distinguished stage and screen credits, is on the verge of projecting a bit more than carefully considered tentativeness. As Frank Elgin, the once successful actor who has retreated into a state of debilitating chronic alcoholism and into total dependence on his wife, Freeman has yet to lock into Elgin’s deeply embedded fear of failure.
Gallagher, who can also be expected to be terrific, resorts to barking his dialogue with desperation, as Bernie Dodd, the gullible, short-sighted, but up-and-coming director who remembers Elgin from his better days. He is best as we see him falling for Elgin’s lies about Georgie. This scene is also Freeman’s best as he succeeds in making Georgie appear the villain and responsible for his lapsed career. The play’s most awkward confrontation occurs between Gallagher and McDormand in which they suddenly kiss after what appears to be a contest of wills and accusations. But the clinch seems to come out of nowhere and without justification. It’s in the script, but it is ludicrous. It is up to the director to see that some tension or sparks are created between the three stars. It never happens.
For whatever the reason, the supporting cast, including Chip Zien, as the hard-line producer, Lucas Caleb Rooney, as the put-upon stage manager; Rene Auberjonois, as the compliant playwright, Joe Roland, as the dresser and Anna Camp, as the ingénue, capture the backstage anxieties and pressures and a sense of the times with more conviction than the leads.
It’s a long almost three-hour sit-down for the audience that not only has to watch this drama trudge along at a snail’s pace, but also endure interminable scene changes. These are made excruciating by having to wait for a traveling curtain to finish making its rounds. Was this annoying theatrical effect meant to signify the passage of time, or was it really the only way that scenic designer Tim Hatley could comply with the changes from the drab dressing room to an even more drab-looking apartment? Is drab the key-word to this production? Interestingly, famed designer Boris Aronson won a Tony for his setting in the original 1950 production. (I’d love to see a photo of that, and did he also use a track curtain?)
It is implied that Elgin’s career went down the tubes twelve years ago as a result of the death of their 4 year-old daughter and after the financial failure of his theatrical investments. As tragic as they were, it is difficult to believe that that was really at the root of his descent into alcoholism. Harder to believe is why the no-nonsense producer of the play would not replace him when the play bombs in its pre-Broadway tryout? More importantly, why has Nichols chosen to direct this particular play and with this cast from all the possibilities that might occur to him? You won’t find any answers in this production.
Although the original play was well received and considered a hit in the 1950-51 season, it only ran for six months. Uta Hagen did win the Tony as the wife. Perhaps some may have seen Jason Robards and Maureen Stapleton (wow!) in the 1972 revival. But that only ran for 8 weeks. It appears that the most successful version was the 1954 film version starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly (Academy Award) and William Holden.
The Country Girl (through July 20, 2008)
Bernard Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street
For tickets call (212) 239 - 6200
|
|