By Joe Straw
About the worst a person could do is to dine alone in the Beauregard Private Hotel in
Bournemouth, England, which is southwest of London, nestled on the south coast,
three minutes from the beach, near the English Channel.
The year is 1958, a settled time of postwar England. Sitting and daydreaming in the dinning room, the
diners stare off surrounded by the accommodations of a dreamier hotel with a
loved one rather than at this single table in a lesser class lodge. Still, they all make the best of a bad lot.
The tables are made for one, for sitting alone. And sitting
alone means you may eat with or without impeccable manners.
However, through meticulous observation, one notices of the
diners that the meal is eaten carefully, placing the fork quietly under the medaillon
or the goulash this night, taking small bleakly bites so as to listen to the conversation. And then, waiting carefully for the opening, the
diners may then join the intercourse at a comfortable or prescribe time.
But for now, waitress Doreen’s (Susan Solomon) rattling’s
words are suggesting servings for the patrons who are offering only impotent
replies which are of little value for those wishing to jump into a tête-à-tête.
Silence at the dinner table without the chinwag is something
they are all accustomed to at this point in their sad lives, what with husbands
died, lovers left, and divorces settled.
But, do they dress! The ladies dine as though they are
holding court, the finest dresses with bedazzling jewelry and furs. The one odd
exception is a transient guest, Jean Tanner, who is wearing (shocking!)
trousers, albeit nice-fitting Katherine-Hepburn-like brown slacks. (All impeccably dressed by Michéle Young,
Costume Design.)
Jean is, neither here, nor there, with a man, Charles
Stratton (Caleb Stevens). Both are
buried deep in books not wanting to give away their relationship. And they give the appearance they hardly know
each other until they get up and leave, one following the other.
If one were to sit in the dining room, and casually glance
about the room, one would see Mr. Fowler (John Wallace Combs), a school master
with a nervous hand, holding on to something to steady his nerves, wanting
desperately to connect, but possibly more with someone of the same sex.
Miss Meacham (Michele Schultz), seated to the left of Mr.
Fowler, is gruff and to the point. She
is bundled in an outfit meant to keep her warm in minus 20-degree weather, and
she is engulfed in her book, Racing Up To
Date, about dashing horses. She keeps a wooden horse with a furry tail on
her table. Her coiffure is of an old un-styled blond wig, intended to make her
look younger but with little success, not that she even cares. But, the giveaways of age are those dark thick
sole shoes. And she speaks in a gruff manner if only to make a strong point. Still,
she is lovely in her manner.
Lady Matheson (Mariko Van Kampen) is to Miss Meacham’s
left. She is beautifully dark, her frame
is politely petite, and she handles her food delicately as though it were some
extravagant dish from an exotic hotel. Despite her appearance, she has little
money living on her deceased husband’s annuity. She is sensible in manner and
deed.
And to her left is Mrs. Railton-Bell (Mona Lee Wylde) a
beautiful woman, dressed to the nines, but with an edge, and unforgiving in the
fault of others. She inserts herself
into the lives of the other lonely guests if only to make them better
individuals. Her mind is in everyone’s business whether she understands it or
not.
The others speak about the
woman joining them on this day being from a fashionable neighborhood in London
– Mayfair – arriving that very morning with four suitcases and a hatbox. When Mrs.
Anne Shankland (Susan Priver) arrives, she does not disappoint. Something parted when she entered the room,
she is tall and stunning, holding her purse with just a touch of a smile from
her broadly painted lips, a model in the most stunning sense of the word, with
perfectly painted nails, long flowing dark brown hair, and a silky taffeta
dress that looked to be poured over her body.
Mr. Malcolm (Adrian Neil) rushes in for dinner hardly
noticing Mrs. Shankland. It has been a
long day at the New Outlook, the
paper he writes for, and possibly he has stopped at The Feathers Hotel bar. But, the moment he sees her, his emotional
repertoire reverberates with his needle in the red. Either she leaves or he
does since they cannot both be there.
Jules Aaron, the
director, is superb in his attention to details, which makes Separate Tables a magnificent outing and
a wonderful night of theatre. The two acts are almost like two separate plays
with the first act-taking place mostly at night and the other act, a lighter fare,
happening during the day, eighteen months later. Aaron plays upon the memories
of time and place in this play with music that highlights the entrance of the
main characters and lights dimming for a supreme focus on character. It’s almost like watching Hitchcock and
getting that tingling sensation anticipating suspense.
Unlike the Burt Lancaster movie, the first act in the play only
verbally introduces two characters – Major Pollack (David Hunt Stafford) and Sybil
Railton-Bell (Roslyn Cohn) – while the second act highlights these two characters.
It is better if they were accentuated in the first act so the audience expects
them and the acts tie together.
Jeff G. Rack’s
Set Design is wonderfully meticulous in the design of a rotating set that turns
from a dinning room into a lounge area and then back again to the separate
tables.
Diana Angelina is
Miss Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Miss Cooper is straight back, to the
point, and tries to keep every customer satisfied and especially one in
particular. But things are not going according
to plan. She doesn’t get the man she
wants. Angelina should try harder to
make that relationship work. There’s a lot to be said of Angelina’s performance,
the way she controls her space, and the manner in which she holds her emotions
in check. One wonders if there is another choice to bring that emotion of
losing someone, her lover, to the forefront.
Roslyn Cohn does
a terrific job as the lugubrious Sybil Railton-Bell. Sybil is a character that is probably on the
autism spectrum. She loves infinitely and
is betrayed by the smallest infraction. Maybe she is not able to process the
circumstances of how she feels betrayed. Sybil is a prisoner of her own mental
constraints and breaking free of those feelings will release her from those
bonds. Cohn’s craft is excellent and
curiosity added would move her more into finding that freedom.
Melissa Collins
has room to play Jean Stratton, a woman, a feminist, and a hell raiser given
the chance. Stratton has a wonderful
imagination and a perspective on sizing individuals on a moments notice. But Collins doesn’t size up the participants in
the first scene and perhaps she should, given the nuanced description of
everyone in her next scene. Stratton has a strong personality, and the ability
to move in the direction of her own choosing. There is strong conflict building
in their opening scene that is now played as a lighthearted encounter. The second act reveals stronger disagreements
and indicates that maybe this relationship is not going to work. Collins is stunning, has a wonderful presence,
and knows her way around the stage.
John Wallace Combs
is a very reliable and wonderful actor. In his role as a retired schoolteacher,
Mr. Fowler, Combs hits all of the right buttons. But maybe more urgency is needed in the first
act when Mr. Fowler’s male friend does not show up. Fowler sits at a table with little interest
in the four women at other tables and yet he clamors for the art student that
doesn’t show no matter how hard he tries to get in touch with him.
There is a violent streak in Mr. Malcolm played by Adrian Neil. We never see the full
extent of his violence; one that happens in the past and possibly gets him time
in prison, and the other in the first act with his ex-wife. Mr. Malcolm’s
hedonism, and with all of this other moral imperfections, chooses the woman
that gives him a greater sense of conflict, a battling nuance, of discovering
something new in a relationship. He
chooses diversity over substance. One would have liked a stronger definition of
his relationship to Miss Cooper. But Neil’s work is solid in this outing.
Susan Priver does
some remarkable work on stage as Anne Shankland. She is stunning and manages to command the
room with her beauty without doing or saying a thing. But Anne Shakland’s words
get her into a lot of trouble. Two
divorces later, she brings her melodious lamentations to her table. And now she is back to capture her first
fling but conflict abounds in her relationship to that man, a man she so
desperately needs now. She seems to take
pleasure in conflict, physical or otherwise in her loneliness. This is a tour
de force role for Priver.
Michele Schultz
does some amazing work as Miss Meacham. Despite being alone and never married
Miss Meacham is smart and worldly to boot. She has a supreme realization of
humanity and is quite the communicator when the time arises. Schultz gives Miss Meacham a truly defined
character, a strong sense of an objective, and a manner, which gives the
character her place in the world.
Caleb Slavens has
a grand method on stage as Charles Stratton.
There are no false moves in his portrayal. Slavens plays Stratton sincerely and to the
point. The first scene with his future wife is playful, possibly wanting to
hold on to the relationship. But he is
focused on his work, studying to be a doctor. He tells his girlfriend to “shut
up” and also implores her not to lose the page he is studying so there is a
little more conflict to that scene. Slavens, at this point, must be questioning
their relationship if she takes lightly his studying and that fits in nicely for
a play about loneliness and finding happiness.
In the written play by Terence Rattigan, Mabel is the
waitress in the first act follows by Doreen.
In this viewing, Doreen is in both acts wonderfully played by Suzan Solomon, an actor, who has a
strong craft. She is a superior actor, and everything looks easy for her. Solomon is so spot-on in character. She is
just being, and doing it extremely well.
David Hunt Stafford
does not disappoint as Major Pollack. Stafford puts his own stamp onto the
Pollack characterization. Certainly one
can see this character in uniform and wearing the metals he earned, marching
when warranted, but this Pollack is a sensitive being, aged, sometimes forgetful,
and mostly being an unreliable reporter. It is terrific work.
Mariko Van Kampen
is Lady Mathison who is the softer side of humanity. But one is not really sure
what this woman is about. Mathison has a
relationship with each of the characters but one doesn’t really get a sense of
her objective. She is pleasant enough in the role but there must be more to her
objective and the conflict must weigh heavily on her purpose.
Mona Lee Wylde
presents a strong purpose for the character Mrs. Railton-Bell. Certainly she must have things her way or
it’s the highway. Railton-Bell, is
consistent in her constant mood of repugnance, accompanied by the lurid
glares. She presents her way of
gathering incriminating evidence, or what she perceives as incriminating and
then acting strongly against it. Wylde is solid in her craft.
Wonderfully produced by David Hunt Stafford in Theatre 40’s
fifty first season. And, parking is free.
What more could you ask for?
Other members of the outstanding crew are as follows:
J. Kent Inasy – Lighting Designer
Paolo Greco – Sound Designer
Judi Lewin – Makeup/Wigs/Hair Designer
Don Solosan – Stage Manager
Richard Carner – Assistant Stage Manager
Jordan Hoxsie – Assistant Director
Run! Run! Run! And
take someone that you have seen dining alone!
THEATRE 40
In the Reuben Cordova Theatre
241 S. MORENO DRIVE
BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90212
RESERVATIONS:
(310) 364-0535.
ONLINE
TICKETING: www.theatre40.org
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