All photos by T. Charles Erickson
Homosexual.
There the word stands, bereft of
any adjectives or qualifiers, bare, naked. In our enlightened 21st
century, does the word still evoke a response, a frisson of…what? I guess it
all depends, but back in the 1960s, in both England
and the United States ,
the word was fraught with emotion, especially for those who overtly proclaimed
they were, in fact, homosexual. For the more timid, frightened or
image-conscious souls who remained closeted, the conflict of “seeming” versus
needful reality often led to subterfuge, acting out and downright deceit. Such
is the stuff of “A Song at Twilight,” Noel Coward’s last play now on the boards
at the Westport Country Playhouse.
Coward was inspired to pen
“Twilight” after hearing an amusing anecdote told of Sir Max Beerbohm as well
as by the publication of W. Somerset Maugham’s memoir in which the author
strove, through blame, innuendo and sheer hypocrisy, to maintain that façade of
“normalcy,” in the process losing many friends who were well aware of Maugham’s
true inclinations.
A co-production with Hartford
Stage, where it was seen earlier this year, “Twilight” has the same cast,
scenery by Alexander Dodge, and director – Mark Lamos, the Playhouse’s artistic
director – as it did up in Hartford, but there is something subtly different
about this iteration. It seems sharper, tighter, and a lot more enjoyable.
Perhaps it’s because there were times up in Hartford when the actors became almost lost
on the large stage. In Westport ,
the stage space is smaller, giving the production a more intimate feeling, and
intimacy (in all of its variations) is what the play is about.
Brian Murray and Mia Dillon
The one-act play is set in a
private suite in a luxury hotel in Switzerland, where renowned author Hugo
Latymer (Brian Murray) and his wife Hilde (Mia Dillon) await the arrival of
Carlotta Gray (Gordana Rashovich), a second-tier film and stage actress and old
flame of Latymer’s who has, many years after their affair ended, inexplicably
requested an audience with the now aged, ailing author.
Felix (Nicholas Carriere), a
waiter, brings the couple libations and after Hilde pours, she departs for
dinner and a movie with a lesbian friend, leaving Latymer to confront Carlotta
on his own. Upon Carlotta’s arrival, the two play a cat-and-mouse game about
Carlotta’s intentions until it is revealed that the actress is in possession of
two sets of letters, one old love letters from Latymer that she would like to
publish in her autobiography; the other set is of a more incriminating sort. It
is the possession of these letters and the memories, passions and betrayals
they evoke, that take up the rest of the play, with Hilde returning to help
drive the dramedy to its climax.
Gordana Rashovich, Nicholas Carriere and Brian Murray
Although the play is not top-tier
Coward, there’s enough wit and cattiness in the dialogue to remind one of why
Coward was such a popular playwright. Most of the biting remarks are given to
Murray, who creates a Latymer that is irascible, overbearing, condescending
and…haunted by his past. Acerbic as Latymer is, he meets his match when
Carlotta appears. Rashovich does an excellent job in playing Carlotta as a
woman who is well aware of her limitations and yet is more than what she
initially appears to be. The two characters’ extended confrontation drives most
of the play, and much of the interest here is in the inexorable shift of power
between Latymer and Carlotta – initially he appears to dominate but ever so
slowly she breaks him down and, in the end, leaves him pondering – and perhaps
ruing – how he has chosen to live his life.
Given the vividness of these two
characters, Dillon’s Hilde seems to hover in the background, that is until the
latter part of the play when she returns and, emboldened by having consumed
wine and several Stingers, reveals a depth of character – and an understanding
of her marriage – that, along with Carlotta’s revelations, forces Latymer to
confront his past.
Lamos has kept the two visual
vignettes that close the two movements of the play: young male actors (Bryan
Kopp and Joseph Merle) stand nude behind a scrim (a theater drop that appears
opaque when a scene is lighted in front and transparent or translucent when a
scene is back-lit) miming intimacy. As with the Hartford production, it is questionable if
these two “memory” moments, though tastefully staged, add much to the
production. This is especially true of the second “moment,” for it draws
attention away from what Murray
is doing as his character deals with the weight of memories.
Evoking an era when class, style
and urbane verbal jousting were valuable social assets, “A Song at Twilight,”
which runs through May 17, pleases on a number of levels. For tickets or more
information call 203-227-4177 or go to www.westportplayhouse.org
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