Elizabeth Shakespeare
The Santa Monica Playhouse is charming. Delightful house staff usher the audience to assigned seats in a well-cared-for space. Visiting the Playhouse is a pleasant experience before the show even starts.
In Abraham Alan Ross's strange and whimsical play, an English professor-cum-private dick (Chris DeCarlo) engages in a bit of cat-and-mouse with a mysterious woman (Pia Pownall) who claims to be the rightful heir to William Shakespeare. The Bard and the Earl of Oxford (played to the hilt by James Schendel) are beckoned by a mysterious computer to give testimony as to who is the authentic author of the famous plays. A flashback in act two (wherein Schendel embodies two further characters) gives background to the whys and wherefores of the cat-and-mouse game, and the play ends on a romantic note.
Ross's play is wordy--excessively wordy at times, but that's rather the point. This is a play about people in love with language, who relish the written remark. The wordiness can be detrimental: The actors did stumble on the jumble of syllables a couple of times, long strings were occasionally clipped through at an unnatural pace and the need for crisp diction was not always met. Ross makes a compelling and interesting case for the Earl of Oxford as the true author of Shakespeare's plays. He provides context for the struggle between our leads, but the resolution doesn't quite ring true. They are cut from the same language-loving cloth, but does that a whirlwind romance make?
Director Evelyn Rudie manages her space well, with only one or two moments were the blocking seems aimless. She takes great advantage of the OCD characteristic of the titular heiress, pushing the actress to correct the multitude of tiny flaws in the detective's office.
Chris DeCarlo brings heart and comfort to the romantically forlorn detective. Pia Pownell is a woman on the edge, a classic femme fatale. DeCarlo and Pownell both perform ably, but James Schendel steals the show. The play picks up at his entrance as William Shakespeare, and he strikes the right balance between subtle glances and scenery chewing in each of his onstage incarnations.
James Cooper's set is thoughtfully rendered, and his lighting navigates the demands of a script that shifts into soliloquies and backwards in time. Nima Ghassemian presents convincing computer graphics, but the pre-recorded voices don't quite measure up: The neighbor is too loud, too canned. The voices at the end are too soft, too distant. A little finessing would fix this element. Ashley Hayes nails the historical costumes and gets the job done with the contemporary threads.
If you live in the area, Elizabeth Shakespeare and The Astute Detective is a satisfying way to spend the evening.
Elizabeth Shakespeare and The Astute Detective is performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm through October 24th, 2010.
Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street in Santa Monica, California. Parking may be found across the street in City Lot #1.
Regular admission is $25, but Santa Monica Playhouse extends discounts for students, seniors, teachers, members of the military and groups of eight or more. Reservations are required.
For tickets and group sales, call the box office at (310) 394-9779, ext. 1.