Reviewed 3/25/05
For this critic, the plot of Ira Levin’s early 1960s
comedy Critic’s Choice hits a little too close to home. Parker Ballantine
(John Janezic) is a theatre critic whose wife Angela (Amanda
Victor) has
decided to write a play against the advice of her husband and her stepson
John (Ryan Janko). His stubborn refusal to help her write what is fast becoming
a turkey and insistence on reviewing the opening has his mother-in-law Charlotte
(Janis Webb) warning him of impending doom. The growing tension may push
Angela into the arms of her young, egocentric director Dion Kapakos (Dustin
Hurtt) and her potential infidelities may have him looking for solace in
the claws of his ex, the vain and manipulative diva Ivy London (Jan
Sanderson).
The script, while occasionally clunky and mired in Kennedy-era chauvinistic
sensibilities, still has a lot of potential. The production that Teri
Glaess and Tempe Little Theatre offers nixes a lot of that potential with flat performers
lacking a strong connection and a lighting design (Laura Troyan) that is
so bafflingly annoying as to draw focus away from the actors almost every
time they move.
Glaess does well with her end of the visual element, keeping the talky play on its feet and moving around Jim Cote’s interesting Manhattan duplex apartment set. However, only the precocious Janko shows a true range of emotions. Even with his wildly flailing arms drawing focus from his lines, Janko still shows some levels. The same cannot be said of Janezic in his performance of the pretentious critic; he seems to believe that a deep voice dripping with sarcasm throughout the play will make for interesting levels. It doesn’t. The only time he shows any depth is at the bitter end, after an embarrassingly unimaginative portrayal at drunkenness, when he gives a passionate speech attempting to keep Victor from leaving. For her part, Victor is sweet and has a few good punch lines, but she seems unable to make any true connection to Janezic, remaining a bit too prim throughout.
Hurtt seems to be in a very big hurry to get somewhere: his presentation is paced at a breakneck speed that doesn’t allow for much shading. With so many interesting things that could have been done, speed-reading is not one of them. Webb is more welcoming and in character. Her wonderful catfight with Sanderson’s London is a highlight of the evening. Sanderson is also pretty strong, though she seems a little reserved for a diva of her declining stature. Her hair design is also completely out of period, though her and the rest of the cast’s period costumes (Sharon Gonwa) are excellent.
Glaess has allowed Troyan to use a style of isolation lighting that has characters either walking through darkness without explanation or moving from room to room with apparent movement sensors to shut off lights from where they have come and turn them on where they move. It’s an amazingly annoying choice that draws so much attention to itself that I wondered if Glaess had been around for tech rehearsals.
There are laughs, and there are some fun moments, but better choices by some of the actors, and less by the lighting designer, may have made this more of a Critic’s Choice.
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