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Cahootsby Claudia AllenThrough June 18, 2000
Victory Gardens Theater "Make them laugh; don't make them nervous." This line is delivered toward the end of Claudia Allen's new play Cahoots. I was neither amused nor unstrung by this world-premier drama and production. Cahoots is a comedy without sparkle, although there are some bright moments and performances. The program notes state that the play is a paean to the "screwball comedy" of the 1930's. The screwball comedies of theater [and film] reveled in the comic rhythm of life. As with the baseball "screwball" pitch that flutters, spins, and suddenly drops, the plot of these plays involve the triumph of the unexpected, the unconventional, the energetic, the hopeful. These plays were popular during the Depression because they presented the triumph of all that was impossible or improbable before the downward plunge of the stock market. In the plays, the poor could attain wealth; the unknown could be famous; the lonely and outcast could be accepted -- all without following the usual paths of education and gentility. Often at the center of these comedies are two lovers who are mismatched because of age, background, "class," or temperament. They move toward union by overcoming obstacles in unconventional ways; this forms the plot of the plays. At the conclusion of the plays, the lovers form a new society which excludes or defames those who cannot adjust to the world with the same humor and common sense. The lovers in Cahoots meet during the Depression in 1934. They are a mismatched, unlikely pair according to the norms of the period. Madeline Ballentine is worldly, rich, and sophisticated; Ray [not Raymond] O'Keefe is a bellhop. Madeline is an important addition to Claudia Allen's gallery of strong women characters. She is a Lillian Hellman-esque famous playwright who must "lighten up," move with the theatrical flow and write a comedy. But Madeline is no tragic heroine. She is the self-deprecating intelligent "screwball." At the opening, inebriated on champagne in her hotel suite, she is bewailing the awful turn of theatrical events: audiences no longer want serious, socially relevant drama. The opening tableau presents her wearing a lamp shade next to the divan with legs akimbo. Ray enters to serve her and ends up encouraging her in her new theatrical endeavor. Although he is in awe of her, he is not paralyzed in her presence. She realizes that she can not write a comedy alone; she teams up with the most unlikely person. They become partners and succeed. The play follows the twists and turns of their professional and personal union through four decades, to 1963 -- through the vicissitudes of the theater from the Depression, to the brink of WWII, to the McCarthy era, to the age of television. According to the press release, the play references "the popular culture of the times -- the 1940s Broadway musical, the 1950s realistic drama, the 1960s TV game show." At the end of the play, the two are not simply shrewd partners or theatrical collaborators, they are truly in "Cahoots." The couple is surrounded by the usual comic eccentrics: two ambitious ingenues--1930s and 1950s varieties--who use their physical charms on both male and females to advance their careers; the actress who loves the stage and the trappings of her life as an actress so much that she will act in any vehicle; the leading man, and husband of Madeline, who refuses to acknowledge the changing exigencies of the theater; the money-motivated producer; and yet another bellhop-cum-lyricist-undertaker-TV director. So, if Cahoots, the written play, has the basic plot and characters of a screwball comedy, why isn't it as "[really] funny" as the playbill touts? Simply, the performances and the production do not deliver a madcap romp. Cahoots has many bravura performances. Sharon Gless's Madeline is a wonderful grand dame. She is the quintessential intelligent screwball. Her portrayal of Madeline is knowing and assured. Jordan Teplitz as Chester Chesterton, the embodiment of the Broadway producer with dollar signs in his eyes, is masterful. Brighid O'Shaughnessy's libidinous lesbian actress, Lee Barry, is fresh and fascinating -- not at all nerve-wracking. The rest of the cast are all obviously seasoned comic actors who all know how to deliver a comic line or execute a pratfall with elan. Yet, the cast does not really work as a comic ensemble; there is much comic wit on display but very little comic repartee. The timing and delivery of Allen's "acerbic dialogue" is leaden, not dizzying. Several elements of the production also undercut the comic effect of Cahoots. The set is flimsy and unstable. In the hotel suite, doors cannot be open or closed without the walls shaking. In the penthouse, champagne glasses cannot be toasted without the dull thud of plastic. The set changes are also inartfully accomplished by stagehands. The costumes, especially those for Ms. Gless, are neither stylish nor period. The aging make-up, especially for the male lead, Sean Grennan, is not credible. The music is often anachronistic. Cahoots could have been a wonderful madcap romp, but it is not. Cahoots by Claudia Allen, starring Sharon Gless, directed by Sandy Shinner, at Victory Gardens Theater, first-floor main stage, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-871-3000. Through June 18: Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 PM; Saturdays, 5 and 8:30 PM; Sundays, 3 PM; Wednesday, June 7, 2 PM; no show Tuesday, June 6. $25-$30. Note: The 8 PM shows on Thursday, June 8, and Friday, June 16, are sign interpreted; the 8 PM show on Friday, June 9, and the 3 PM show on Sunday, June 18, are performed with audio description; the 2 PM show on Wednesday, June 7, the 8 PM show on Friday, June 16, and the 5 PM show on Saturday, June 17, are captioned for the hearing impaired. These Access Project performances cost $20 for persons with disabilities; call 773-871-3000 or TTY 773-871-0682. --Sandra Marie Lee |
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