|
NoHoLA March 15-28 2005
Jacob
Clark
Wendy Gough is a consummate theatre artist. This season alone at Write
Act Repertory, she has shown her remarkable range, turning in superb
performances in several productions, directing a wonderful World
Premiere play, and now researching, writing and performing a solo piece,
The Divine Madness of Isabella, about the life of Italian actress-poet
Isabella Andreini.
Isabella was a huge star of the Commedia dell’ Arte, a form of theatre
that bridged the gap between the traveling minstrels of the Middle Ages
and the high comedy and tragedy of the Renaissance. She elevated the
form by playing a prima donna character who had the license and ability
to improvise poetry,
 bringing
a new refinement to the stage showing Europe the effectiveness of poetic
drama and comedy, paving the way for Shakespeare, Moliere and other
poet-playwrights to emerge.
Although Gough’s play brings a historical figure to life, it is hardly a
mere academic exercise, as the revelation of the life is by turns,
hysterical, heartrending and surreal. Gough plays 20+ characters using
commedia styled masks, puppets and sheer talent. Gough is just as adept
at inhabiting male psyches as female ones, just as committed to little
puppet voices as to big theatrical ones, and the resultant play, an hour
and twenty minutes in length, flies by at a breakneck pace.
Director John Achorn moves Gough through the paces of a life flashing
before ones eyes with a focus on playing the commedia of the piece while
preserving the fresh reality and determination of the truth, arriving
finally at a surreal synthesis of vaudeville and Stanislavsky. John
Lant’s wonderful set is filled with surprises and his lighting supports
the magic of the play.
Once again, Write Act shows Los Angeles that risk-taking, entertaining
and intelligent theatre is available for the adventurous audience.
|
Backstage West March 10 2005
Wenzel Jones
Wendy Gough
is an actor of no small measure, who has crafted for herself a one-actor
showcase that plays to her strengths. In choosing the historical character of
poet and commedia actor Isabella Andreini, of whom it is frequently noted that
she "wants more than God allows women," Gough get s
to run the gamut of acting opportunities as she portrays multiple characters
comporting themselves in a variety of styles. It's in her capacity as
mask-maker, though, that she is able to put a special polish on the piece. Some
characters are denoted by nothing more than a hat on a pole, while the men to
whom Isabella is related, whether by blood or marriage, are full-face masks,
some with hinged and bearded jaws, allowing Gough to portray this handful of
males quite effectively. At times the masks are expected to work alone, Gough
standing by as an interested observer who just happens to be lending her voice
to the proceedings, a device best employed in a scene in which two of the
troupe's lead performers clash, leading to a great deal of comic upstaging.
Puppets come into play, too, and, although they are lovely, their contributions
are somewhat limited, particularly those that are attached by their backs to the
lid of a trunk. The two that enact the courtships of Isabella and her
husband-to-be are quite sweet in their brief scene, however.
Jeff Soroka's set, which consists largely of primitively painted backdrops that
are awkwardly winched away when their moments have passed, has a rusticated
charm in keeping with the whole commedia milieu. Gough's costu me
(Ashley Trevathan), which consists of a few layers of white clothing topped off
with a handsome red robe, can be tucked or flounced to achieve a fair range of
looks. Although the script isn't nearly as singular as its subject is supposed
to have been, the production of it is impeccable, perhaps best exemplified in
the moment at which a small roll of material is hurled from backstage and Gough,
without even turning to look, reaches up and with complete assurance snatches it
out of the air.
|
