Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde

Feodor Chin as Cecil Graham, Brian Slaten as Lord Darlington, Owiso Odera as Lord Windermere, Peter Wylie as Lord Augustus

By Joe Straw

Chalk Repertory Theatre presents Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde and directed by Jennifer Chang.

Lady Windermere’s Fan performed on the grounds at UCLA’s William Andrew Clark Memorial Library is thoroughly enjoyable with a rich diverse cast – a monster of a show with incredible performances.  

It has a very limited run and closes August 18 at 6:00 pm.  Come early and enjoy a picnic on the grounds before the show.  There is plenty of free parking and the grounds under the shade are extremely enticing.  Bring a hat if you are sensitive to the sun and something to wear for the early evening cool breeze in this outdoor play.  Also, bring someone younger than you to help you off the rug in the second act.

I only have a few notes to come later.  Oh, what the heck, why not have the notes now?  No, I’ve changed my mind, later.

Before the show started, during the outdoor seating, Parker (George Wyhinny) and Rosalie (Amalia Fite) do their best to get everyone seated, handing out surveys, and grumbling about their job, as they make ready.  Typical servants.

“The action of the play takes place within twenty-four hours, beginning on a Tuesday afternoon at five o’clock, and ending the next day 1:30 p.m.” – Lady Windermere’s Fan

“Is your ladyship at home this afternoon?” – Parker

“Yes – who has called?” – Lady Windermere

“Lord Darlington, my lady.” – Parker

Lady Windermere (Amielynn Abellera) asks Parker (George Wyhinny) to show Lord Darlington (Brian Slaten) in.

Lord Darlington immediately wants to touch but Lady Windermere says her hands are wet from the fixing the roses.

Hmmm.

Darlington sees a fan lying on the table.

“And what a wonderful fan!  May I see it?” – Lord Darlington

Lady Windermere says the fan is a birthday gift from her husband and that she is throwing a party that night.

But the handsome Lord Darlington teases in extreme measures and gives naughty compliments to this young newlywed with a six-month old son.  He also suggests someone’s brief marriage may be in trouble.  But seeing that he is getting nowhere with her, at this time, he suggests being a great friend because everyone needs friends.

“We can always remain so as long as you don’t –“ – Lady Windermere

“Don’t what? “ – Lord Darlington

“Don’t spoil it by saying extravagant silly things to me.” – Lady Windermere

Lady Windermere suggests she is a Puritan, raised strictly by her father’s eldest sister after her mother died.  She believes in the sanctity marriage and would not tolerate any matrimonial misconduct.  Lord Darlington sees life differently.

“You have the modern affectation of weakness.”  Lady Windermere

“It’s only an affectation, Lady Windermere.” – Lord Darlington

Moments later Parker announces the Duchess of Berwick (Terri Reeves) and her daughter, Lady Agatha (Allie Jennings).  And they flit in, birdlike, for a visit.  The Duchess, who appears to have had an intimacy with Lord Darlington, wants him to have nothing to do with her daughter, Lady Agatha. 

The Duchess of Berwick has important news to give Lady Windermere but she has to get rid of Lord Darlington first and then send Lady Agatha to another part of the house.   And when they leave, she tells Lady Windermere that her husband Lord Windermere (Owiso Odera) has been seeing Mrs. Erlynne (Tess Lina) four or five times a week.

“And the worst of it all is that I have been told that this woman has got a great deal of money out of somebody,” – Duchess of Berwick

With the seed planted, and the Duchess gone, Lady Windermere cuts open Lord Windermere’s private bankbook to find that Lord Windermere has been giving large sum to Mrs. Erlynne.  And when he gets home she lets him have it, in the most discrete way, of course.

Lord Windermere responds that Lady Windermere should not question his love for her. Then he requests and insists that she should invite Mrs. Erlynne to the party.  Lord Windermere refuses so Lord Windermere writes the invitation himself, gives it to Parker, and away we go, to the party and the after party to the dangerous dalliances.

This is a delightful production that moves the theatregoer in many ways. The actors are a lot of fun and the show under Jennifer Chang’s direction moves briskly with wonderful pacing. 

The setting is hard to place partly because the setting, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library and the Costume Design by Halei Parker make it appear 1970’s yet actors use electronic devices suggesting a present day setting.

The most important element missing in this production on this day was the fan, Lady Windermere fan, which seemed to be broken in the first act. I’m not sure what happened.  The fan is the most essential element of the show. The fan is in fact the title of the show Lady Windermere’s Fan.  It is mentioned by nearly everyone who sees it in almost every scene, it is a call to action in many scenes but rarely do we see it. We should not lose sight of the fan.  This is my only grievance.

from left: Feodor Chin, Scott Keiji Takeda, Allie Jennings, Teri Reeves, Owiso Odera, Amielynn Abellera, Brian Staten, Tess Lina, Peter Wylie, and George Wyhinny

Amielynn Abellera is Lady Windermere and has a slight trace of an accent, which is not English.  Still she is marvelous in the role.  But while she says no to a possible lover, there must be something in her to indicate that she says yes in her heart.  She is, after all caught in his home, late at night.

Feodor Chin is Cecil Graham, a man with political interests.  He knows Mrs. Erlynne as well, to further his political career, one assumes.

“That woman can make one do anything she wants.  How, I don’t know.” – Cecil Graham

And like all good politicians, Cecil Graham, takes a great deal of interest in himself.

Amin El Gamal is remarkable in the role of Dumby . His voice strong, his nuance divine, and the manner he moves about the stage noteworthy.  His growth as an actor since I last saw him in Anthony and Cleopatra is also remarkable.

Amalia Fite is wonderful as Rosalie, the semi-dusting maid, at the opening of the show and also in the role of Lady Plymdale. There is a lot of appreciated character work in both roles.

Allie Jennings is Lady Agatha and does well in her outings and is a very cute underling to the Duchess of Berwick

Tess Lina plays Mrs. Erlynne, the woman with a big secret.  She is so wise and knowledgeable about the makeup of men that she controls the men around her, uses them at her discretion, and makes them feel good about themselves. Lina is wonderful in the role.

Owiso Odera is Lord Windermere and his role is really interesting in that he has to keep a secret in order to maintain another secret. It would be easy to spill the secret in the first scene with his wife, but then, there would be no play.  His job would be to have his wife discover the secret by placing the participants in the same room.  But, because he plays a game he almost loses everything.  It is by all accounts a very nice performance.

Teri Reeves is the Duchess of Berwick and is an incredible actress.  She looks nothing like her photograph in the program with the long flowing hair and the expressive eyes.  Dressed conservatively with her hair pulled back she is quite another person. This statuesque actor gets the dialogue, her relationships with everyone in the cast are spot on, and her manner in which she moves about the stage is exquisite.

Brian Slaten as Lord Darlington is also a marvelous actor.  How many times does a man tell a woman that he loves her in order for her to believe him? In manner and deed Lord Darlington gives it his best shot.

“My life – my whole life.  Take it, and do with it what you will…. I love you – love you as I have never loved any living thing.  From the moment I met you I loved you, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly!”  - Lord Darlington to Lady Windermere

Of course Lord Darlington is cavalier and has a slight reputation for certain physical wants and a roving eye.  Slaten is very convincing and very funny in this role.

Scott Keiji Takeda is Hopper an Australian with a lot of money looking for a wife and has made a catch before his departure but he wants to talk to the Duke about taking his daughter to Australia.  Nicely done.

George Wyhinny plays Parker with a lot of flair and finesse.  As the manic servant his hair is slightly disheveled trying to negotiate the problems around the house but it appears that he has done a remarkable job of keeping the house in order. Wyhinny is excellent in the role.

Peter Wylie is Lord Agustus a man who has been married and divorced more than he is willing to admit.  He is looking for another mate and his eyes are on Mrs. Erlynne.  If he could just figure out what she is all about he would have only half a chance. Wylie does an excellent job.

Jennifer Chang, the director, has given Los Angeles a delightful and surprising experience.  Overall the play works on so many levels.  It has an excellent cast.  Presenting it here at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library was an excellent idea and does wonders for a play that appears to have a lot of rich folks.  The second act, although wonderfully acted is wide in scope.  It was like going to the former Cinerama Dome, sitting in the front row, and straining to see the whole picture. The space facing the front would have been adequate enough for the presentation.

All said, I had a great time and I hope to see more of Chalk Repertory Theatre productions.

Other members of the delightful crew are as follows:

Production Stage Manager:  Ryan Harris

Stage Manager/Dramaturg:  Liv Wafler

Stage Manager:  Ian Lockwood

Scenic & Prop Design:  Art Betanzos

Lighting Design:  Rebecca Bonebrake

Costume Design:  Halei Parker
Publicity:  Shari Barrett
Dialect Coach:  London Kim
Assistant Consultant:  Colin Wambsgans
House Manager:  Nicholas Pilapil
Graphic Design:  Charity Capili

Run! Run! Run! Bring a picnic and takes someone you adore but somehow can’t make it work.   Maybe, things will change.

Tickets are $20 general admission, $10 Students/Seniors/Service, $15 Neighborhood discount and can be purchased online at www.chalkrep.com or by calling 323-379-9583.

The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett – Newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman

L - R Jessica Richards, Georgan George, Valerie Rose Lohman, Jack Kandel

By Joe Straw

“In 1972, he stood there, quietly, in front of all of us.  He was a dapper middle-aged farmer in a vest and had a small red carnation in the buttonhole of his sports jacket.  His worn brown shoes appeared too large for his feet and his belt had seen better days. He called Bastone, Belgium his home as he began his story.

The war had been going on for far too long in the late spring of 1944 and the Allies were nowhere in sight.  

He said his father, unexpectedly, sent him out to plow the fields.  He knew it was too late to be tiling the soil but his father insisted. And he grumbled all the while questioning his father’s wisdom. 

He was nearly finished plowing when he heard transport planes first and then looked up and saw hundreds of allied paratroopers appearing like dots in the sky.  The young Germans soldiers, noticing the same thing, started to run. 

And then something triggered an overwhelming emotion in his esse and the man started to cry, remembering thirty years earlier and coming to grips with his father’s motives. 

He did not know it then but his father had risked both of their lives - to be found out meant being shot as spies. Still, they did this in preparation of the allied invasion and to assist the paratroopers to land on soft soil. 

War memories never die.” - Narrator

Wasatch Theatrical Ventures (WTV) presents The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett – newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, directed by Mark Belnick, and produced by Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners at the NoHo Arts Center – through August 25, 2013. It is a fine production with wonderful performances.

Adam Haas Hunter, the Set Designer, fills a tiny marvelous space with the essential living quarters of the Franks.  The beds and couch are supported by a finite number of grey books. It is a wonderfully symbolic visual of Hunter’s intention to show the Frank’s cherished the written word.

Shannon Kennedy, the Costume Designer, has done a remarkable job completing the costuming visuals of that period.  

The Diary of Anne Frank is a holograph of a frightening and disturbing look at humans confined in a very small place, living with their idiosyncrasies, waiting out the war, and away from the prying and arresting eyes of the Gestapo.

In this play, the not-so-perfect Anne Frank, (Valerie Rose Lohman), brilliant and inexperience in the ways of her human experience, doesn’t understand the predicament of their lives.  She thinks the hiding is going to be fun.

“Like being on vacation in some strange pension or something. An adventure – romantic and dangerous at the same time!”  - Anne

Her father Otto Frank, (Jack Kandel), understands the nature of war – having served in the German army during World War I. He hides his family, especially his daughter Margot, (Jessica Richards) fearing for her life.  

“You couldn’t let your daughter be taken away, Mr. Frank.” – Mr. Kraler

This is Anne’s perception of her sister Margot’s (Jessica Richards) predicament.

“Are you all right, Margot?” – Anne

“I’m still shaking.  Feel my hands.” – Margot

“Don’t worry.  We’re here now.   They can’t take you away.” - Anne

Peter Van Daan (Nick Reilly) expectedly arrives with a cat to wait out the war in the attic.  But his parents Mr. Van Daan (Warren Davis) Mr. Frank’s business partner, and his wife Mrs. Van Daan (Susan Priver) were almost lost. They arrived later and were nearly caught by the police.

They settle down to their internment in the attic as they try to co-exist when Meip (Mindy Barker) tells them a dentist, Mr. Dussel (Shelly Kurtz), wants to go into hiding. Mr. Frank immediately says yes but forgets he has a business partner Mr. Van Daan and consults with him before the decision is made.  

“Those last hours are the most dangerous for a Jew going into hiding.” - Anne

Seeing this on opening night, I was fascinated by the excellent storytelling under Mark Belnick’s direction with only minor deviations that did not serve the play’s purpose. Whether the characters ever come together in a fighting cohesive spirit remains to be seen. Belnick has the actors waging a battle of an entirely different war of emotional and physical confinement. Whether that was his intention or the result of limited rehearsal time remains to be seen.  With more performances under their belt and in front of an audience, the production should gel quite magnificently.

This otherwise newly adaptation of Wendy Kesselman’s 1997 play is effective in purpose and overall is a strong production. The odd thing about this play is the strong emotional pull was from Mrs. Van Daan’s character and not Anne.  Still this night pushed emotional buttons, as was intended, and the cast was exceptional barring a few missed opportunities. And I do have a few notes.

Valerie Rose Lohman (seated on floor) L- R Georgan George, Jack Kandel, Jessica Richards, Steven Scot Bono, Shelly Kurtz, Mindy Barker, Warren Davis, Susan Priver, Nick Reilly

Mindy Barker plays Miep Gies nicely.  She is the Dutch caretaker and does her best to provide for the families living in the attic. Gies should not accept the fur coat so easily.  Doing so would only provide more information to those who have eyes on the outside. She has three sources of conflict at this moment, the wife, the husband, and the Gestapo.  Not to mention the internal conflict.  

Steven Scot Bono plays Mr. Kraler a sympathetic man trying his best to hide the Frank family. He is also the Aryan business partner to Otto Frank.  Kraler’s relationship with Margot should be stronger. And Kraler should be more adamant about getting the Frank family out of the attic once they have been found out and really take no for an answer when he begins the process of paying bribes.  I found his work exceptional.

Warren Davis is Putti Van Daan a man who cares for his cigarettes first, his wife second, and little or nothing for his son. He is out for his welfare or so it appears until the time he defends his family.  The moment when he defends his son is not accentuated and lost.  Davis needs to find a stronger and creative objective to help him over the rough spots and develop the relationship with his business partner.  But overall Davis has a nice look and does some excellent work. 

Georgan George does a nice turn as Edith Frank, the mother with emotional problems.  And who could blame her given the crises of her predicament.  She sees this act of hiding as an unsuitable endeavor and she is disturbed by the dreams that plague her as well.  She does not get along with her second born, Anne.  Still she will do anything to help her in their predicament. This is a character with a lot of strength despite her frailties and George does a nice job.     

Jack Kandel plays Otto Frank the patriarch of the family.  He understands rule and order being a former military officer.  But these are not soldiers under his control.  They are civilians.  And the part of the battle he wages is with a foe, the Gestapo that is listening right outside his attic door. Frank’s actions to placate everyone works well in most cases. Still, he needs to use his military experience and business acumen when moments get out of control. Kandel’s performance was marvelous and nicely accomplished.

Shelly Kurtz plays Mr. Dussel and his entrance was superb.  His character is the last to join the Frank family and they appear not to not completely trust the dentist with their oldest daughter. So they stick him in the same room with their youngest. Dussel is a naughty character that creates so much friction the others want to run out of their place of hiding.  Kurtz does a fine job.  

Valerie Rose Lohman plays Anne Frank  - someone who is slightly older than Anne. This was not a sympathetic portrayal of a character written with warts and all.  Still, Lohman should relax, let the words come to her, and most importantly, find the core of the character. Lohman needs to develop her concentration and find a creative objective that carries her from the moment she enters to the moment she leaves.  Lohman is young and has much to learn.

Susan Priver is Petronalla Van Daan and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.  She is a wonderful actress, so real, and has a wonderful instrument that she plays brilliantly. The milk on the mink coat and the selling of the coat were luminous moments in the play. Her performance is definitely worth the price of admission.

Nick Reilly as the shy Peter Van Daan was quite capable.  Still, more work needs to be done with his relationship to his parents, to the Frank family, and especially to Anne. I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to fall in love with Anne the first time he meets her.   Reilly, the actor, should remember when he was sixteen and the hormones were raging. 

Jessica Richards as Margot Frank was quite charming throughout the play. Still, I wondered if Ricards, the actor, felt she was the cause the Franks move into the attic. If she did think that then Margot’s breakdown at the end of the first act should be an apology to all of those in the room, especially her family, rather than kneeling face down crying center stage. I liked Richard’s performance.  Still I believe there’s more to be had here.

Jack Willick provides the voice of the Radio Broadcaster.

I was touched by Mark Belnick’s direction, the storytelling, and his craft. There were a few rough spots, moments missed, relationships not fully realized, but they were only small things that can be easily fixed. Belnick emphasizes that prayer and hope are important elements in this play  - that unifies the families as they await freedom from the allied troops.  But these families come together only in prayer and fight each other under the chronic stress created by fear.

Other members of this fine crew are:

Associate Producer – Victoria Watson, Theatre Planners

Lighting & Sound Designer – Matthew Richter

Costume Designer – Shannon Kennedy

Production Design – Fritz Davis

Publicity – Nora Feldman

Press Photographer – Ed Krieger

Graphic Designer – Kiff Scholl, afKiff Design

Production Stage Manager – Kimberly Walker

WTV Web Master – Gene Kelly

Run and take someone who has not experienced The Diary of Anne Frank.

BUY TICKETS/INFO:  www.plays411.com or (323) 960-7788