Playhouse on Park, West Hartford, CT
www.playhouseonpark.org
through March 10, 2019
by Shera Cohen
Congratulations to Playhouse on Park’s
(POP) on its 10th anniversary season. Over the years, POP’s
triumvirate co-founders (Tracy Flater, Sean Harris, and Darlene
Zoller) have presented an array of dramas and comedies, straight
plays and musicals, old chestnuts and new works. For the most part,
and the reason that single ticket buyers soon become subscribers, is
the excellent quality, talent, and purpose of the plays. Skilled
staff, both onstage and backstage, can always be depended upon.
POP does nearly everything right to
create a fine production of “The Revolutionists.” The major
element of what makes a play the best it can be is the ability of a
director to present a full story from the opening line to the final
curtain. Any theatre-goer knows that the actors, crew (a very long
list of highly skilled individuals), and even those at the concession
stand help to make a theatre experience important and memorable to
the audience. POP has all of this good stuff.
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| Photo by Meredith Longo |
Yet, even with POP’s skills on every
level, it seems unlikely that no theatre could produce this particular play to audience satisfaction.
In the Spotlight’s review criteria purposely omits critique of the
text – that’s a given, and it is the production that is
considered. However, here is an exception, the reason being to
essentially not kill the messenger - in this case, POP. Apparently,
the playwright’s record of success is broad, but this work by
Lauren Gunderson is not up to the level of POP’s abilities. Big
question: why did POP select this play?
As a tragi-comedy, the play’s story
does not ring true, which is especially odd because three of its four
characters were actual people living at the time of the French
Revolution. The contemporary language stuffed with numerous and
unnecessary expletives mixed with that of 18th century
semi-aristocratic conversations. The play would have had a decent
start had it been a drama throughout. At the very least, if the
writer meant “The Revolutionists” to be a comedy, then stick with
it.
Three plays round out the second half
of POP’s 2018-19 season. In spite of what is written above, Playhouse on Park is worth a trip.
