Violent genius

Dobama does unsavory play well

By Peter Bellamy

The drama Total Eclipse," which is having its premiere Cleveland performances at Dobama Theater, is beautifully done but is by its very nature unpleasant and sometimes

distasteful.

The unsavory quality of this play by Christopher Hampton would be obvious to those familiar with the characters and the violent homosexual relationship between the French symbolist poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine.

With the imbalance so common to those close to genius, both poets possessed monstrous qualities. Both were offensively disagreeable, alcoholic, heartless spongers and had murdero us instincts close to the surface.

Verlaine was both masochistic and sadistic. Before he deserted his wife and child to live with Rimbaud, he beat his wife in drunken rages and even set her on fire from time to time.

Rimbaud, whose total output of poetry was written between the ages of 10 and 20, was a sadist, a thief, a person of nasty, malicious disposition, incredibly and deliberately crude and dirty in his personal habits. He hated the human race and had an obvious death wish before his eventual deathbed conversion to religion.

Presented in three acts and 11 scenes, "Total Eclipse" is naturally episodic and is more an exposition of character than a play. Its talkiness makes it slow-moving, and even the violent scenes are mostly in slow motion. The conventional characters of the play are all dull.

The action shifts from Paris to Brussels. London, Stuttgart and back to Paris between the years 1871 and 1892. The homosexual relationship is made quite apparent, but only in conversations. The emotional climax is reached when Verlaine wounds Rimbaud with a bullet.

Marc Moritz, who is only 17 years old, gives a remarkably gripping performance as Rimbaud between the ages of 16 and 21. It is a most demanding role both emotionally and in its hundreds of lines.

The same applies to that excellent actor Richard Howey, in the role of Verlaine, who is called upon both to grovel and give vent to homicidal moments.

Leslie Varnick is charm-, ing as Verlaine's young bride, who tries desperately to make a go of her marriage despite her knowledge of Verlaine's liaison with Rimbaud.

The other 12 roles, which include the characters of Verlaine's in-laws, Rimbaud's sister, a maid, a barman and the poets' absinthe addict friends, are taken by six performers.

Standouts are Chris Columbi Jr., who brings his usual great stage presence to the roles of Verlaine's stuffy father-in-law and a Brussels judge. Marilyn Caplane is superbly hardboiled as the floozie with whom Verlaine is living at the end of his life.

The inventive Larry Gorjup has created a harpsichord as a prop and also an ingenious knife which seems to bleed on contact with human flesh. The play drew generous applause. I

suspect that it will appeal more to young playgoers than to those with conventional tastes.

The inspiration of the title, "Total Eclipse,” incidentally, is not made clear.