God bless us every one - A Christmas Carol with Charles Dickens

Photo from http://www.myspace.com/independentshakespeare

A Christmas Carol with Charles Dickens

Lillian Theatre

(1078 North Lillian Way, Hollywood 90038)

A production of Independent Shakespeare Co.

Date of reviewed performance: December 20, 2008

Cast

Mr. Dickens - David Melville

American Actress - Mary Guilliams

As tends to be the unfortunate tradition with my reviewing shows by ISC, this review is of the next to last performance of this production and is thus too late for any of you to see it. Do take heart, however, that ISC tends to put up this production every year - so you can go ahead and mark your calendar for the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas NEXT YEAR to reserve a spot at this show.

ISC co-founder and regular star, David Melville (who was most recently seen playing a splendid Hamlet), portrays Mr. Charles Dickens in this skewed take on a very familiar story. Here the Ghost of Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, Tiny Tim and even Scrooge himself are merely characters in a story being weaved by Charles Dickens. As we've seen in past performances, Mr. Melville is quite the ham and so giving him the opportunity to shift among several fictitious characters through the layer of Dickens' point of view is quite a sight to behold. Though as much work as he does (which is quite a fair bit), he is not completely alone as he has help in the form of a young American actress, played by Mary Guilliams, who periodically provides theme music and dramatic input to break up the monotony of what would otherwise feel like an incredibly long monologue. Ms. Guilliams has appeared in other ISC productions this season (and was likewise in Hamlet), though she generally appears as an ensemble player. In a sense, the same could be said of her role in this production...albeit an ensemble of one...but it was nice to see her in a more focused role and she did the job well.

As Dickens tells his story, all of the required elements make their appearance right on cue: humor, regret, fear and redemption culminate as expected in burden-free joy. Of course, I am a big ISC cheerleader and David Melville always brings me joy with his performances; but the two-actor nature of this production does make it feel like a very long show. It is easy to understand why they continue to perform it in this manner: fewer actors to wrangle during the holiday season, plus the concept of it being told in a different way (and by Dickens himself, no less) makes it interesting to market. I would, however, rather like to see ISC mount a production of A Christmas Carol in the traditional way, and perhaps one day they will.

A Christmas Carol with Charles Dickens:

God ye good den - Love's Labour's Lost

Photo provided by The Porters of Hellsgate

Love's Labour's Lost

The Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center

(11006 Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood 91601)

A production of The Porters of Hellsgate

By William Shakespeare

Date of reviewed performance: December 6, 2008

Cast
King Ferdinand of Navarre - Eddie Castuera
Berowne - Charles Pasternak
Dumaine - Matt Calloway
Longaville - Cody Goulder
The Princess of France - Samantha Stinger
Rosaline - Taylor Fisher
Katherine - Alexandra Smith
Maria - Angele Dayer
Boyet - Thomas Bigley
Marcade / a Forester - Bill Quade
Don Adriano de Armado - Gus Krieger
Moth - Dan Sykes
Dull - Dylan Booth Vigus
Costard - Jack Leahy
Holofernes - Jamey Hecht
Nathaniel - Jacques Freydont
Jaquenetta - Maja Miletich

The Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center is a small theater with a big attitude. Like many of the theaters in the NoHo Arts District, this space was likely built for the purpose of use as a shop of some sort. How these companies transform their found spaces into places suitable in which to perform dramatic works is always something interesting to behold. This black box theatre makes great use of the room for both purposes of staging and audience. No inch of space is left unclaimed by either one or the other; even the scenery is painted right on the very walls to marvellous effect. The building itself does have a kind of odd entryway that makes one feel like a mouse in search of cheese while navigating an angular and narrow hallway before reaching the actual lobby to the theater.

Love's Labour's Lost is the final production of the second season for The Porters of Hellsgate. The Porters are an upstart Shakespearean company who, despite their relative youth, take on the Bard with complete reverence. Of course Shakespeare himself was a rather irreverent fellow, so approaching his work with all piety will inevitably land you with some wins and some losses. By far, the stand-out performer in this production was the one who seemed to take his character the least seriously: Gus Krieger with his hysterically over-the-top Don Adriano de Armando, a Spanish knight wooing a lovely and less than bright milkmaid. Likewise, the most entertaining scenes were reliably those that featured dialogue between Armando and his put-upon page, Moth (Dan Sykes).

The five women in the cast are all lovely and each quite talented. The Princess in particular (played by Samantha Stinger) has a kind of charm, confidence and grace that calls back to the twenties and thirties - qualities rarely scene in actresses today. The character of Rosaline (Taylor Fisher) was also well played with coy intelligence that spoke of mischief and secrets untold with every glance.

The four actors who play the King of Navarre and his companions tend to speak their lines strictly in the uniform rhythm of iambic pentameter - a style that the rest of the cast doesn't share. It's a interesting choice that certainly sets the identifies of these men apart, while binding them to each other. The opening scene is theirs, so being introduced to the story through such a structured cadence was a bit jarring at first (I worried the whole cast would recite their lines likewise), but once the actors warmed up the subtleties of Shakespeare's complex language were no longer lost underneath the heavy rhythm of the poetry. Barowne (played by Charles Pasternak, who also directed this production) and Dumaine (Matt Calloway) were most at ease in their characters (as well as with the language) and were great fun to watch. As these characters quickly fall in love with the French princess and her ladies, a confusion of identities set in - partly due to misdirected love letters and partly due to a scheme put together by the ladies to teach the King and his companions a lesson by way of masquerade party. Eventually the truth is sorted out and just as it seems they might all live happily ever after, news comes to the Princess that her father is dead and she must return to France right away. What has been a light comedy ends with the four women leaving behind the men for a one year period of mourning and a promise to reunite after such time.

The Porters of Hellsgate is a company still finding its voice in the L.A. theatre scene with enough talent and vision to one day be a major player. Their commitment and single-minded passion to produce quality Shakespeare is a noble one. They are certainly going to be an interesting group to watch grow.

Love's Labour's Lost: