The City
by Clyde Fitch
Adapted by Stan Mazin
Lonny Chapman Theatre
(10900 Burbank Boulevard, North Hollywood)
A production of The Group Rep
Date of reviewed performance: February 27, 2010
Cast
George Rand, Senior - Chris Winfield
Molly Rand - Kady Douglas
Megan Rand - Trisha Hershberger
George Rand, Junior - Hector Hank
Susan - Diana Martin
Fred Hannock - Glenn Collins
Teresa Rand - Jaclyn Marfuggi
Bert Vorhees - Doug Haverty
Don Van Vranken - Fox Carney
Eleanor Vorhees - Melissa Soso
Clyde Fitch was a turn-of-the-century playwright who wrote over 60 plays. It is a rare thing to see any one of them produced today, but The Group Rep is currently taking a shot at reviving The City - the last play Fitch wrote before his death. Director Stan Mazin attempts a language update to make it more relevant and less...well, turn-of-the-century-y. It is a great idea, though not an entirely successful one. I've never read the original play for The City so I have no idea how much of it was changed, but there are a couple of things that stick out even to those who are unfamiliar with Fitch or his contemporaries. Much of the dialogue retains the original period's structure and rhythm, which sounds unnatural compared with the way we speak today and so that's a big clue that the adaptation wasn't top to bottom. Additionally, some of the really obvious changes (i.e., Lady Gaga and Chase bank references) appear at strange times in the scenes and cause unintentional (I think) laughter. It may have been less distracting if Mazin had simply let the original play speak for itself.
The play opens with Rand, Sr. trying to concentrate in his study while daughter Megan and wife Molly have loud conversations on the phone and with each other. Most of the noise is about their desire to leave their small hometown of Middlebrook for a new, exciting life in New York City. They feel they've advanced socially as much as possible in their small town and greater glamour, prestige and money await them in the City. Rand, Sr. is fully against the idea, unwilling to leave the comfortable security of his big-fish-in-a-small-pond status, until his son Rand, Jr. arrives (Hector Hank, sporting a leg injury that's never explained). The younger Rand has the same desire to leave and spills his father's secret that he's actually been offered a job in New York. Amidst the entrances and exists of the self-centered family members a new face arrives - Fred Hannock. Fred demands money from Rand, Sr., who's apparently been paying Fred, and before that Fred's mother, for many years. Fred's a crook, but when Rand, Sr. appears to be finished subsidizing Fred's life, the con man pulls out a gun and threatens to kill himself. Rand, Sr. gets out his checkbook. After Fred leaves, Rand, Sr. spills his dirty family secret to Rand, Jr., making his son promise to continue to care for Fred Hannock after his death. He then promptly dies.
The second act moves us five years in the future to New York City. The family has everything they claimed they wanted, including Rand, Jr.'s nomination for Senate - yet they are still unhappy and self-centered. Additionally, Rand, Sr.'s business practices have come back to haunt them, placing them on a rockier road than any of them could forecast and soon enough they all have to pay the piper.
The play comes off more like a badly written soap opera than a piece of theatre. There are startling inconsistencies that, even if they were overlooked in the adapting process, should have been glaring in rehearsals (as they were in the performance). For one, in the second act the characters (and therefore the audience) seem to not be sure whether Megan is dead or injured. There is early mention that her life is gone, and then we see ambulance lights. The next day, there's talk of her being upstairs (in the home). Molly and Tess are said to have just been in her room, explaining why she can't have another visitor right at that moment, then moments later Molly says Megan was murdered. For most of the play, Bert Voorhes claims to be Eleanor's older brother...but then at the end he is referred to as her father with no further explanation. This is a problem that surfaces not only in the script; the program (which has two actors playing Bert Voorhes on alternating nights) has Bert listed as Eleanor's father under the description of one actor and as her brother under the other.
Doug Haverty delivers the best performance of the show as Bert Voorhes. Though The Group Rep is an old company, most of the actors onstage in this production seemed inexperienced and need better material and better direction. The blocking is chaotic and both scenes that end with tragedy come off as farcical. One of the play's big moments, involving a pair of lovers in a relationship more complicated than they know, is handled hamfistedly. The reveal of the fling may earn some gasps and laughter, but the shallowness of these characters means there's no investment beyond the punchline. The fates of Rand, Jr., Molly and Tess/Theresa are no less clumsily revealed.
The final performance of The City is tomorrow, Feb. 28. Tickets range from $15-$22. For reservations call 818-700-4878.
Directed by Stan Mazin
Assistant Director: Diana Martin
Produced by Britt Chichester & Lisa Mann
Scenic Design by Trefoni Michael Rizzi
Lighting Design by Ric Zimmerman
Costume Design by Maro K Partin
Sound Design by Alma Reyes-Thomas
Stage Manager: Jeremy Levin
