Marriage Play: Like a horse and carriage

by Jenni Morin

Premiering in 1987, Marriage Play continues to fascinate audiences with the mundane, yet devastatingly inevitable, dissolution and disillusion of one of the most fundamental relationships recognized in society. Mere weeks after the passing of Edward Albee, one of the most celebrated American playwrights, The Classic Theatre of San Antonio presents the opportunity to revel in his work with the staging of Marriage Play, now showing through October 23.

Catherine Babbitt and Andrew Thornton
in Marriage Play at The Classic Theatre.
Photo by Siggi Ragnar.

After 30 years of marriage, Jack returns home early from work one afternoon to tell his wife he is leaving her. When Gillian’s reaction is unsatisfactory, Jack attempts to break the news again and again, hoping for any response beyond nonchalance. Verbal and physical attacks ensue, passages are read from Gillian’s lovemaking journal, indiscretions are revealed and apologies mingle with reminiscence. The back and forth leaves audiences questioning if they will be able to reconcile or if they will numbly acquiesce in the unavoidable.

As Jack, Andrew Thornton opens with a matter-of-fact sterility and exhaustive narration of his decision, indicative of Albee’s style. His repetitious speech is accentuated by sarcastic interjections from Catherine Babbitt’s Gillian. After role-playing two schoolchildren goading each other, each expertly navigates their expectation-obsessed, confused and devastated character through a beautifully verbose sophisticated quarrel. On a near-bare stage, Babbitt and Thornton grapple with the vacant passion and bitter comfort of marriage while trying to understand how what has become nothing is no longer enough. Albee poses an exercise in acceptance leading to the discovery that “the greatest awareness leads to the greatest dark.” Somehow, in the banality of loss there lies profundity. Director Tim Hedgepeth choreographs Albee’s words into banter, leaving stifled dialogue aside as the characters settle into the script. Void of over-dramatization, Thornton and Babbitt are free to frankly portray their characters with an unexpected hint of stark realism. Kaitlin Muse’s lighting design underscores the disquieting everyday occurrence with an afternoon sun streaming through blinds and a subtle prolonged dissolution of light into darkness.

Couples, especially of many years, commonly struggle to maintain individuality, often forgetting, as Gillian points out, that they choose to be together – or, at least, those strong enough to be alone do. With all its many insights, Albee’s Marriage Play teeters on the cusp of revelation, forcing audiences to empathize but not quite understand Jack’s enlightening out-of-body experience. Perhaps the answer to the age-old question of what happened at the end of marriage boils down to nothing.

Albee’s legacy lives in the depth of his exploration into the unremarkable yet defining moments of the human experience. The Classic Theatre production of Marriage Play honors that legacy with a thought-provoking, humorous at times, exhibition of how a good script with a talented cast can stand alone as impeccable theatre.


Marriage Play will run at The Classic Theatre through October 23, 2016 with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.

Breathing life into The Seagull

by Jenni Morin

The passion, fame, insecurities and life’s purpose detailed in Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull are as applicable to today’s obsession with obsession as they were when it first premiered in 1896. The Classic Theatre of San Antonio makes this Chekhovian comedy not only palatable, but also enjoyable and relevant. The immensely talented cast of The Seagull can be seen at The Classic through March 6.

Kelly Hilliard Roush and Michael
Holley in The Classic production
of The Seagull. Photo: Siggi Ragnar.

The Seagull takes place on the country lake estate of Peter Sorin, whose sister is famous actress Irina Arkadina and has taken famous writer Boris Trigorin for her lover. Irina’s son Constantine has written a symbolic play and cast his love interest Nina Mikhailovna of a neighboring estate as the lead. In an attempt to prove his worth and gain respect from his mother, Konstantin invites everyone, to view the play. After being mocked by his mother and Nina rejecting his love, Konstantin becomes depressed obsessed with dismantling the artistic conventions held dear by his mother and Trigorin who has seduced Nina. While Masha Shamrayev, the daughter of the stubborn estate manager Ilya, is courted by Simon Medvedenko the teacher, she pines for Constantine. Her mother Paulina asks to be whisked away by Dr. Yevgeny Dorn who is a family friend and physician to the elderly and ailing Peter. The humor lies mostly in subtext and the unpredictable emotional poles of every interaction, which is heightened by each character’s own self-importance. As the unrequited love in the various triangles is destroyed, they each must reinvent themselves or accept the lives their passion has dealt them.

Exuberant narcissism fuels The Seagull’s energy as The Classic cast portrays complex and intriguing characters reminiscent of today’s self-indulgent artistic elite. Director Allan S. Ross exhibits them as fascinating subjects who are as endearing as they are detestable. The set by Ric Slocum feeds into this voyeurism with floating gilded frames and a haunting yet enchanting backdrop of birch trees. A constant reminder for the country’s nature and openness, Rick Malone’s sound design juxtaposes the restlessness and dissatisfaction they each feel in their lives. The lighting by Pedro Ramirez readily sets the mood and highlights key symbolism throughout, including Richard Solis' title prop. However, Diane Malone’s costumes bridge the technical elements to the actors with breathtaking ensembles from head to toe, all period appropriate.

Leading the cast with an unparalleled mastery of manipulation was Kelly Hilliard Roush’s Irina Arkadina, possessing an alluring stage presence reserved for those with exquisite talent. Jonathan Pollei’s portrayal of Boris Trigorin perfectly complemented Roush as he bore the cross of fame and talent with poise and intrigue. Chelsea Dyan Steele as Masha, John D. Boyd as Simon and Catherine Babbitt as Paulina were all masters of subtext as they exchanged glances. Joe De Mott as Ilya, along with Michael Duggan as Peter Sorin, provided great comedic relief with perfectly timed interludes. Michael Holley played Constantine as a mix of Hamlet and Romeo and Julya Jara handled Nina’s arc with graceful melodramatics, both perfectly appropriate for Chekhov. Through it all, Andrew Thornton provided a constant and refreshing wisdom in Dr. Yevgeny Dorn, bridling the emotions of the others.

Perhaps The Seagull is Chekhov exposing the addictive nature of writing and performance, which begs the question if Trigorin’s compulsion to write mirrors that of his author. It’s entirely possible the script reflects the playwright’s own feelings about fame, acceptance, frustration with artistic conventions, and even life wasted. Whether it’s pitiful or eerie, The Seagull seems applicable even more today with the proliferating obsession with selfies and celebrities. Nina’s fate can certainly speak to the detrimental effect of fame on those incapable of obtaining or navigating it—just as the seagull circling the water it loves can never see the bullet coming to knock it out of its lofty position in the sky. Beyond the symbolism of the lake and the seagull, the play’s subject matter is timeless as it explores human nature’s inevitable need for validation, a search for self-preservation, and how to live a life worth living, whatever that may entail for each individual. Each character seems to embody a fear they are powerless to overcome.

A true ensemble, the entire cast of The Seagull at The Classic effortlessly mounted this passionately verbose and technically appealing production. The Classic makes Chekhov approachable, relatable and entertaining, a veritable feat over Russian literature for American audiences.


The Seagull will run at The Classic Theatre through March 6, 2016 with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.

Ghosts: Classic clings to duty

by Jenni Morin

The Classic Theatre continues the theme of keeping up appearances with this season’s second show, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. Each character is haunted by secrets, past regressions and feigned propriety and unable to live happily while the judgmental rule of morality forces them to live in darkness with their ghosts.

Written shortly after one of Ibsen’s most famous works, A Doll’s House, Ghosts was meant to shock and appall audiences and critics. It did just that when it premiered in 1882 as it discussed such topics as adultery, venereal disease, illegitimate children, premarital cohabitation and flat out deceit. The play opens with Regine Engstrand, Mrs. Alving’s maid, arguing with her father Jakob Engstrand, who wants her to come live with in a sailor’s hostel he hopes to open. Pastor Manders, an old friend of Mrs. Alving and her financial advisor, comes to finalize the paperwork to dedicate a new orphanage to her late husband. Osvald Alving, Mr.s Alving’s son, has returned home from painting abroad in Paris because of his father’s passing and an illness he inherited from him. As the debauched past of Mr. Alving comes to light, the ghosts of these transgressions turn the lives of everyone involved upside down.

Ghosts constantly puts duty and ideals at war with truth and insists that deceit breeds unhappiness and ruin. The imagery of the light juxtaposed to the dark, where the ghosts live, is quite beautifully illustrated in the script. Osvald feels the full burden of his inherited disease as it manifests physically and eats away at his brain—quite a visual for how secrets can fester and consume. Ibsen makes his stance known early in the play during the pivotal scene when Pastor Manders confronts Mrs. Helene Alving about the books she’s been reading. This integral scene lacked the finesse necessary to nail Ibsen’s point in this production. At times the dialogue seemed chaotic as actors jumped their lines, but was calmed by the telling looks and silences. The staging and blocking by Director Omar Leos was often the driving force that kept the pace for the show as the actors seemingly danced around the stage to involve the audience positioned in stadium seating on either side.

As always, Andrew Thornton as Pastor Manders was the anchor for the entire cast with a superior and consistent performance. Sam Carter Gilliam as Mrs. Helene Alving was definitely in her element with this period drama. She embraced the melodramatic tendency of the script, especially in the scenes she shared with Trevor Chauvin, who fully committed to the self pitying romantic “reinstated son” Osvald. Julya Jara and George Burnette, as Regine and Jakob Engstrand, were steadfast and impeccable.

The set, designed by Ric Slocum, mirrored the staging as the two entrance and exit points toyed with dimensionality. The skewed placement of the partially hanging set was a wonderful commentary on how things appear depending on the point of view. The score, written and performed by Darrin Newhardt, was ethereal and chilling, a lovely complement to the understated technical elements, which brought the show together.

Classic’s production of Ghosts is a scandalous journey through deep dark secrets, complete with subtle gems of brilliance and a cast fit for Ibsen’s ire and candor.
Ibsen warns that secrets should be abandoned, people should live openly and not to judge too quickly or our sins will haunt us and our descendents. While some of the consequences to not following this advice seem harsh and graphic at times, it is the blunt and unabashed truth which continues to make Ghosts pertinent and impactful. Audiences should delve into shameful embarrassing secrets, discover their own definition of immorality and form their own opinion of this contentious drama.


Ghosts will run at Classic through November 23, 2014 with performances at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.