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Passion Play |
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Author: Peter Nichols
Reviewer: Michael Bracken for Theatre Reviews Limited |
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As the house lights go down and the stage lights go up, Mozart’s “Requiem” comes blaring into the Minetta Lane Theatre. It is of course a beautiful piece of music, but its volume is overwhelming - it’s nothing less than an audio assault. It’s a demand for attention that seems almost rude, that is, until we see what follows. For this insightful revival of Peter Nichols’s masterful “Passion Play” deserves nothing less than our full concentration.
  
“Passion Play” is the story of Eleanor (Maureen Anderman) and James (Simon Jones), a late middle-aged couple whose marriage is thrown on its end by Kate (Natacha Roi), the young widow who successfully sets her predatory sights on James. It’s a simple enough story and one of the oldest in the book, but Nichols makes it seem as fresh as springtime. He does so in a variety of ways, starting with the basics of good storytelling, intelligent dialogue, and interesting characters.
“Passion Play” is not satisfied with the traditional triangle: it needs a pentagon. That sounds like a pretty unwieldy geometric configuration, but in Mr. Nichols’s hands it’s a piece of cake. He adds two characters, or at least two actors, to the mix, in the persons of Jim (John Curless) and Nell (Leslie Lyles). They function largely as James’s and Eleanor’s alter egos, but we’re never quite sure exactly who or what they are. When they first appear, they are dressed like their alternate selves and can be seen and heard only by them. Through them we learn what is going on in the minds of the two protagonists. But little by little they gain more independence, wearing different clothes from James and Eleanor and actually filling in for them, i.e. Nell has a scene with James and Jim with Eleanor. They add dimension while defying definition. This is perhaps what makes them so intriguing. It’s not like Nell is Eleanor’s rational side or Jim is James’s guilty side: that would probably grow old quickly. They’re additional facets of multi-faceted characters in a situation where emotion runs high but not necessarily clear.
Another element that works so well in this play is its musicality (on which director Elinor Renfeld capitalizes adroitly). By that I am talking first and foremost about structure. “Passion Play” unfolds like a symphony, one that is textured and complex, skillfully weaving leitmotifs and subtexts into a beautiful, passionate whole.
It also uses counterpoint to heighten dramatic effect, whether it’s two conversations or two scenes going on at the same time. Early in the play, the unsuspecting Eleanor is defending Kate on one part of the stage to Agnes (Lucy Martin), whose late ex-husband Kate stole years ago, while James and Kate plot their next rendezvous on another part of the stage. The juxtaposition says a world more than any additional dialogue could.
But the most dynamic musical device is the crescendo that comes at the end of the first act, when James, Eleanor, Jim, Nell, and Kate all face the audience, talking at the same time, underscored with music. All the emotions that have been slowly percolating come to a full boil and are thrust upon us, front and center. I cannot remember a first act that has built so steadily and inevitably to a climax like the first act of “Passion Play.” I was on the edge of my seat, completely stirred up. This is the kind of first act most playwrights only dream of, leaving the audience hungering for more throughout intermission.
But it’s not just the writing that’s stirring. Director Elinor Renfeld conducts this symphony like a maestro, carefully orchestrating the interweaving scenes and characters. Everything flows; nothing is forced. The play’s wonderful complexity never seems complicated. Even the exaggerated volume of the music (which also includes Bach’s “St. Matthew’s Passion” and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”) seems natural and appropriate.
Narelle Sissons’s set is another joy. If the play’s use of music is pertinent to Eleanor’s being a choral singer, the set is a reflection of James’s career as an art restorer. Three huge picture frames create three distinct playing areas but combine when necessary to form Eleanor and James’s living room. Behind them are several less imposing canvasses turned on their sides or upside down. As one waits for the play to begin, the set seems a little surreal, but once it’s peopled with actors, one doesn’t even notice the picture frames. It just seems like someone’s house.
The cast is a true ensemble. No one stands out because everyone is excellent. Natacha Roi is a charming two-faced tigress. Maureen Anderman’s Eleanor has the perfect combination of misplaced trust and befuddlement, the latter waxing and the former waning as the play proceeds, and Leslie Lyles’s slightly feistier Nell is right on target. Simon Jones gives a subtly shaded performance as the slightly chilly, intellectual James who slowly grows cockier in the course of the evening, and John Curless’s Jim shadows James, with just a touch more humanity.
“Passion Play” is an intelligent, compelling play, which is given the dynamic production it deserves at the Minetta Lane Theatre. This is theatre at its best.
© 2001, Michael Bracken
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By Peter Nichols; directed by Elinor Renfield; set design by Narelle Sissons; lighting design by Jeff Croiter: costume design by Christine Field; produced by Louise and Stephen Kornfeld, Kardana/Swinsky Productions, Karen Adler, and Teri Solomon Mitze in association with Roy Gabay and Lawrence Roman; at the Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane
WITH: Natacha Roi (Kate), Simon Jones (James), Maureen Anderman (Eleanor), Lucy Martin (Agnes), John Curless (Jim), and Leslie Lyles (Nell)
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