"The Herbal Bed"
by Peter Whelan
at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Reviewed by David Roberts
I had the privilege of seeing Peter Whelan's "The Herbal Bed"
at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre just three days prior to its closing
on Sunday, April 26. There are so many reasons this play should
have had high audience and critical appeal. The presence in a
production of Peter Whelan, Michael Attenborough and a stunning
cast would seem to be the ingredients needed for the success of
a play. And there is much in this production that does work very
well. The difficulty is the choice made here and there which just
did not work and the weight of these choices simply pulled down
the rest of the production.
The premise of "The Herbal Bed" is a marvelous one and kept my
interest in seeing and reviewing the play even after the closing
notice was posted. I wanted to believe (beyond hope I guess) that
our American audience would find the material fascinating. "Newsday's"
Blake Green wrote that "For actress Laila Robins (Susanna Shakespeare
Hall), the role of Shakespeare's daughter touches on issues of
sex and power as current as the evening news." And I believe he
is right. What happens in "The Herbal Bed" is far more interesting
that anything Kenneth Starr could dig up about the President of
the United States. That's mostly because Whelan is basing his
play on fact, not fiction hoping to be fact.
Laila Robins gives us a superb performance as Susanna Hall. And
the performances of the rest of the cast are also fine (though
some uneven). David Jenkins' sets are interesting; however, all
the action of the first act in the herb garden might have been
one of those choices that might have been different. Alvin Colt's
costumes and Beverly Emmons' lighting did all that they could
do to make the production work. The most difficult scene of the
second act is the scene with the Vicar General (Simon Jones).
This scene of interrogation and corroboration is just too lengthy
to hold the audience's interest and though it is fascinating to
see Susanna Hall defend herself and reframe all the accusations
into affirmations, the scene does not work and I believe is the
main reason the play does not work.
Producing theatre is always an amazing process. It is not a simple
thing to determine when a play will work and when it won't. Sometimes
the opinion of reviewers seems to matter, sometimes that opinion
has no effect on audience response. I think "The Herbal Bed" deserved
a better chance and perhaps it will again in another production
at another time.