Dangerous Liaisons @ Paper Wing Theatre
I
have a couple of spoiler warnings to declare before I get into my
thoughts on this show. The thing is, the story is very well known. If
you haven’t seen the vast number of adaptations or read the source
material, then I apologize in advance. But the truth of the matter is
that there are some stories that simply couldn’t really be spoiled.
Hamlet is trying to avenge his father and dies, Romeo and Juliet die,
Benedick and Beatrice fall in love, and Rudolph saves Christmas. This
play is based on a classic novel that is well over 200 years old and I’m
not going to apologize for letting the cat out of the bag. Consider
yourself warned, oh dear Faceless Reader.
I’m a prude.
Let’s
get that out of the way from the get-go and move on from there since
I’m already late in seeing the show, already late to the controversy
that is the show, and already late in addressing all the pachyderms
occupying said domicile. My beliefs are somewhat puritanical and that’s
really all there is to it. I’m not ashamed of it and I certainly don’t
need to hide behind excuses like some writers in the area. So the
question has been asked about whether Paper Wing Theatre goes beyond the
realm of good taste and offends sensibilities. To that, the answer is
simple- If you’re the sort to be offended or uncomfortable with any
degree of stage nudity then you may consider their advertising a “buyer
beware” approach to the show. But it’s not gratuitous- it’s not nudity
for the sake of nudity and it’s not even nudity for the sake of
titillation. Actually, the nudity is often so matter of fact and brief
that it seems very much like a costuming choice for the sake of the time
period more than anything. Save for one scene, the nudity is never
really thrown at the audience- and that one scene is something I need to
talk about in some degree of detail.
Amanda
Platsis bares all for her performance in this scene- a deliberate
exposure for the character who is freely in love and unburdened in a
moment of absolute vulnerability. She is glowing on the stage and it is
in that moment that she is torn apart and her stunned almost desperate
scramble to pull the rags of her clothing back together is heart
wrenching. There’s nothing gratuitous in the scene- there’s nothing
titillating and especially nothing sensitive to the moment, it is raw
and honest and deserves my attention and my admiration. It’s a scene
that haunted me on the ride back home, it haunted me when I woke this
morning, and it especially haunted me when I struggled to first start
writing my thoughts. It was too big to hold back on and so it’s the
first thing I’m writing about in earnest- the earlier paragraphs were
just fluff to get me started and it’s not at all the end of my thoughts.
Platsis built up to this moment throughout the play, building a
character arc that made her character believable and sympathetic…
something that other adaptations have often failed to achieve for my
personal tastes.
What
else leads up to this scene? The machinations of the Marquis de
Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two members of the French
aristocracy playing their scandalous games of intrigue and seduction
with a definite air of pompous cruelty. And, unlike other productions,
this script fully explores the willing participation of others in this
Game. The Fashion is spot on (Costumes by : Katherine Johnson), the
language of a lady’s fan is explored, the make-up, the struggle to
maintain face in the midst of scorn and humiliation, to use the tongue
as a barb with verbal feints and jabs, and the occasional bribe all play
a part in the story as more than just dressing. No one plays the game
better than the Marquis (Koly McBride), a Lady who has played the game
for a long time and who is simply unable to even tolerate a missed
opportunity to gain advantage over any and every one. She’s not able to
stop herself from drinking her fill of it. She’s not some bored woman of
means, she’s actively cruel and merciless in her pursuit of the Game.
Her
willing co-conspirator is the Vicomte de Valmont (Lj Brewer), a man
whose scandals are worn across his sleeve like a badge of pride. He
loves them and he leaves them and he never bats an eye in the process.
He’s a rake, through and through. And Brewer presents something noble in
all of this- because he never truly claims to be anything other than
what he is. He never proclaims himself a good man- and if one is able to
read between the lines, he almost seems an honest man in all of these
games. And, in the end, he becomes a man who is trapped by the Game
itself when it turns on him and sets his path on a seduction of Madame de Tourvel
(Platsis). She’s a woman of devout faith, married to a prominent judge,
and a great prize to be had by Valmont. But Valmont is wholly unprepared
for the man he becomes in the process.
And
what about those other participants in the Game? Cecile de Volanges is a
naïve young woman fresh out of the convent and ripe for the plucking
fingers of her cousin, the Marquis and the rakish Valmont. Her doe-eyed
love and affection for her music instructor, Chevalier Danceny
(well-played by Taylor Landess), paves the way for willing participation
in the scandals that ultimately threaten her family and pending
marriage. Britney Stane tells her story with all the innocence the role
requires and brings something very interesting to her performance. It’s
hard to put into words- there is a point in the story where her
character is learning the social graces of what it means to be a Lady
and she flips her fan. Her performance relies strongly on the practiced
ease of the other actresses and one wouldn’t notice if one weren’t
paying close attention- I’m just the sort of person who does pay
attention. She flips her fan while her eyes seek approval from the
others- she walks with an eye for how everyone else is perceiving her
walk, a certain worry behind every step that could falter at just about
any moment. And Stane does falter on occasion- purposeful to the
performance, sold by the others sharing the stage with her, and it’s
very well choreographed.
And
that leads me to the other noblewomen, all of whom are played to near
perfection. Madame de Rosemond (Andrea MacDonald) Valmont’s aunt, Madame
de Volanges (Katherine Johnson) as the disapproving mother, and Emily
(Kate Faber) a scandalous courtesan. Each woman has a role to play in
the affairs of the story and each woman brings something different to
the proceeding. Each brings a certain degree of humor when it’s needed,
they support the action on the stage with a practiced glance, stare,
sigh, or false acceptance of one another.
And what’s a story about Aristocratic excess
without the biting satire and humor? This play is rich with laughter,
from double entendre’s and sarcasm of the court to the vulgar sexuality
and eavesdropping antics of the too-curious servants all too willing to
sell out their employers for a few silver. William Colligan is
brilliantly hilarious as Valmont’s servant Azolan, a low brow foil in
the Shakespearean tradition of Dogberry. He carries on his own illicit
affairs and often provides some “bro” moments with Valmont regarding his
employers actions. I was also caught up by the sneaky-ninja
eavesdropping and whispered secrets of the Marquis’ lady-in-waiting
(Cheryl Karoly).
This
is the go-home paragraph, the moment where I wrap it up all nice and
pretty with a shout out to the director and the crew and all of that
stuff- but let’s be honest here, when I look back at the performances
and you may note how much I wrote about the other people on stage
actually selling each performance with looks, glances, and gestures then
you would understand how that speaks to the director for leading her
cast in what is ultimately one of the most challenging ensemble
performances I’ve ever seen. Certain moments of silence can speak a
thousand words, certain mannerisms can only come across with the
practiced eye of a director helping their cast to realize the full
potential of their performance. Jourdain Barton’s eye is one I’ve long
admired and one I continue to admire with this show.
4.5 out of 5.
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