Jose Ruiz, Enjoy!
GLENDALE -- Although written more than 100 years ago, the comedy in
"Trelawny of the Wells," being produced by A Noise Within, is as
contemporary now as it was long ago.
And, just as actors are not often held in high regard today, it was
worse then.
With that backdrop in place, we find Rose Trelawny, actress of some
renown, preparing to abandon the stage in her prime, to become the wife
of a wealthy aristocrat who has offered to take her away from all this.
To acclimate to high society before the wedding, she agrees to stay
with his grandfather, Sir William Gower, a gentleman of many scruples and
opinions, who takes an unkindly eye toward the lady.
His many rules and conditions eventually become unbearable to Rose,
who feels like a bird in a gilded cage, and when her stage friends come
to visit one day, she decides it's best to return to her life at the
Wells theater.
That's when her problems start. She finds herself unable to act, so
much so that she is eventually dismissed from the company, and were it
not for a contrived series of events, she could have been on the dole.
As with most plays, all ends well, and the lovers reunite, but it
wasn't too clear why it happened.
All 19 actors are excellent, and the stage sets were superb as the
crew has made wonderful recreations of Victorian parlors and living
rooms.
William Dennis Hunt was particularly funny as the grandfather to Brian
McGovern's bumbling Arthur, and Abby Craden was a terrific Rose Trelawny.
Directed by Julia Rodriguez Elliott and Geoff Elliott, the action
moves briskly for the first two acts, but then falls flat on its face.
Notwithstanding the performances, the third act was muddled, confusing
and much too long.
The relationship between the density of the seats and the sharpness of
the brain was sorely tested; alas the brain lost after the second hour.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: "Trelawny of the Wells" written by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero,
produced by A Noise Within, directed by Julia Rodriguez Elliott and Geoff
Elliott.
WHEN: Through Nov. 25.
WHERE: 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale.
COST: $22 to $38.
PHONE: 240-0910.
