GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE MARCH 19, 1993

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Theatre Spots

by Barry Daniels

Although my negative review of the Cleveland Play House production of Neil Bartlett's brilliant translation-adaptation of The Misanthrope was not printed last month for lack of space, I wanted to draw our readers' attention to the fact that Bartlett is an important figure in the gay community in Britain, where he has received numerous awards for his acting, playwriting, and fiction. (His latest novel was reviewed by Eric Sellen in the January issue.) I was and am disturbed that not the slightest mention of Bartlett's importance to the gay community occurs in any of the Play House press releases or publicity for the production.

At Kent State University, Theatre Kent's annual Student Play Festival includes a production of Martin Sherman's 1979 Broadway success, Bent. The play, set in Germany in the 1930s, contains brutal scenes of the Nazi persecution of gays, but its central story describes the love between two men that blossoms and grows under the worst oppression imaginable inside a concentration camp. The play caused a sensation in its original production, but student director Marc Andreyko thinks "the play is more timely now than when it was written. After a decade of facing the AIDS crisis and various continuing forms of oppression, the play's message and humanity have a renewed importance. Performances are on April 7-8 at 8 pm in Wright-Curtis Theatre. Tickets are $7, $3.50 for students. Reservations are advised and can be made by calling 1-672-2497 after March 28.

Through April 11, the Cleveland Play House is presenting the world premiere of Wendy Kesselman's The Butcher's Daughter. The award winning drama tells the parallel stories of two women during the French Revolution. One is the illegitimate daughter of a powerful French nobleman; the other is the cloistered daughter of the executioner of Paris. The play is epic in scope and addresses important issues in the struggle for women's rights. Tickets are $24 and $31. For performance times and reservations call 795-7000. Pay-what-youcan performances are scheduled for March 9,12,18 and 23.

Ben Jonson's masque, Oberon, the Fairy Prince, was performed at the Court of James I in 1611. The masque was a spectacular form of entertainment which combined music, dance, and drama with lavish costumes and scenery. Case Western Reserve University, in collaboration with

Cleveland State University and a group of international specialists, is reviving this rare spectacle in a staging that will be as faithful as possible to our understanding of the original 1611 production.

David Douglass, artistic director of the King's Noyse of Boston, will direct an original instrument ensemble. Choreography will be by Ken Pierce of the Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company. Barrie Rutter,

artistic director of the Northern Broadsides Company in England, will direct. Eugene Hare of Cleveland State University is supervising the recreation of Inigo Jones' original sets and costumes. Performances are March 24-27 at 8 pm in the Excelsior Ballroom of the Thwing Center at 11111 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $12; $6 for seniors and students. For reservations call 3682400.

Karamu House's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, directed by Justin Dennis, will be performed March 26April 18. The production is set on an island off the north coast of Africa and features the Imani Dancers who serve as spirits of the isle. The set design is by Julia Zheng who also designed Karamu's productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Dreamgirls. Daring area fashion designer Denajua provides the costumes. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, in the Jelliffe Theatre. Tickets are $12. For reservations call 795-7077.

Israel Horovitz's North Shore Fish is about workers in a small fish packaging company in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The economy has begun to take its toll on such businesses, and the city has been rapidly gentrifying which forces out local businesses and residents. Horovitz's play is a finely crafted realistic study of blue collar workers faced with the dissolution of the world they have always known. It is the only play of any distinction in the Cleveland Theatre Company's first professional season. I regret to report that it is not a successful production. There is clearly a great deal of talent in the company--I especially enjoyed Sheila Maloney's Flo and Chuck Ritchie's Porker. The production, however, as staged by Thomas Fulton Jr., never connected with the reality of the situation. It was as though the actors' goals were to display their abilities to emote realistically and to be pleasing even when playing unpleasant characters and situations. I felt like I was watching a television sitcom that condescended to the working class. Horovitz's considerable craft at portraying character and his larger themes were trivialized.

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