Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Cinderella tangles with Macbeth
THEATER: Three plays join forces in masterful, intertwined
effort to enhance all aspects of drama
By Cheryl Klein
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Even the most devoted English major, well-versed in the art of
drawing, um, dubious literary parallels, wouldn’t have immediately
made the connection. Medea. Macbeth. Cinderella. Greek tragedy,
Elizabethan drama and the American musical.
No, it took two of Los Angeles’ most ambitious theater companies
to enact the three works simultaneously on one impressive stage,
pulling off a small miracle in the realm of dramatic adaptation,
not to mention a highly entertaining, if at times confusing,
evening of theater.
The Cornerstone Theater Company and the Actors’ Gang are no
strangers to twisting the classics and stretching theatrical
possibilities. While the former adapted Moliere’s farcical comedies
for the ’90s Gap culture in last year’s "Malliere," the latter’s
examination of past, present and future situations played tri-level
storylines in 1994’s "Hysteria."
Thus, when the seat-bound audience crosses stage left to find
three diversely costumed protagonists lying on their backs in a
circle, all we can do is shrug and trust the two talented
ensembles.
They don’t disappoint. "Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella" ("M/M/C"),
running through May 9 at the Actors’ Gang Theatre, uses the
tragedies to expose some of the fairy tale’s darker elements, but
more often lets Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of "Cinderella"
bring out the comedy in the other two.
Mercifully included in the playbill are synopses of the three
stories. Medea is enraged when her husband takes the daughter of
King Creon as his new wife, and she decides that killing the king,
princess and her own two sons is the only way to exact revenge on
her wayward spouse.
Macbeth gets hungry for a throne of his own and, with a little
help from his emulous wife, proceeds to slash anyone who stands in
his way. This includes King Duncan, who later haunts their dinner
parties, and Macduff, who, since he’s not "of a woman born" (think
C-section), can slay Macbeth without violating the witches’
prophesy.
And Cinderella, as the only non-murderess, actually makes it to
the throne, thanks to a gushing prince and the world’s most
uncomfortable pair of shoes.
Though each plot progresses separately, the no-doubt painstaking
task of combing through the texts for overlapping phrases and
character similarities becomes increasingly admirable as the
stories wind tightly together, three wishes that more or less come
true but with a lot of work and sometimes bloodshed. The troupe
helps its audience along visually, as Ann Closs-Farley’s and Lynn
Jeffries’ initially distinct costumes (togas for the "Medea" cast,
plaid for "Macbeth" and garish fluff for "Cinderella") slowly give
way to all-black ensembles.
It’s subtle when the evil stepsisters shed a petticoat or two,
but it’s glaring when Lady Macbeth appears sans wig and velvet
dress and is very much a man.
Not that this wasn’t clear in the first act, but by the second,
all facades fly away as the characters wrestle with their deepest
desperation. Throughout, "M/M/C" dashes audience expectations, from
genre lines to gender lines. The latter is probably most textually
obvious in "Macbeth." Shakespeare frequently debates adherence to
family ties and what it is to be a man. Christopher Liam Moore’s
Lady Macbeth is appropriately cold and conniving, then horrified as
she realizes the brutality of her actions.
It’s also just really funny when she begs god to take away her
breasts and "unsex" her. Um, honey, wait till act two. You’ll get
your wish.
And as the witches, Gary Kelley, Benajah Cobb and Armando Molina
are three weird sisters indeed.
Of course, the female roles would have been played by men in
Shakespeare’s day, but the company expands this idea by casting
women as Medea’s husband and father-in-law and a man as
Cinderella’s magical benefactress. Daniel T. Parker’s sassy
performance gives new meaning to the term "fairy godmother."
Since the tragedian casts talk through much of Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s score, a few musical moments are lost – for example,
much of the sweet imagery in Cinderella’s "My Own Little Chair."
But the song still serves a purpose as the princess-to-be (a
humorously bubbly Evie Peck) twirls around the stage in giddy
oblivion to the revenge-saturated stories around her.
But as she pauses and sings with uncharacteristic hardness, "I
can be whatever I want to be," it all comes together. The three
protagonists are all big dreamers who feel trapped by
circumstance.
The musical is full of these little fairy-dust dashes of
clarity. Ah-ha! Maybe Euripedes, Shakespeare and Rodgers and
Hammerstein did collaborate in some cosmic way – and the Actors’
Gang and Cornerstone have channeled it for us.
Unfortunately, the reception is sometimes a little hazy. The
company has probably overestimated its audience’s literary savvy
since, to truly appreciate the nuances in the fragmented,
overlapping dialogue, it’s necessary to be intimately familiar with
all three works.
"Medea" is probably the most obscure and least immediately
interesting tale. But musicians David Markowitz and Shishir Kurup
(who doubles as Macbeth) add zest and depth with their seven songs,
namely the rousing "Madness Reigns," a thundering song that calls
the female characters to empower themselves in the wake of male
wrongdoing. There is an irony in this of course, since some of the
girls will proceed to spiral into their own madness.
The melancholy, choral-sounding "Seed a Child," while pertaining
directly to "Medea," also alludes to the issues of spousal and
parental loyalty in Macbeth’s marital problems, the slaying of
Macduff’s wife and child and Cinderella’s relationship with her
spiteful stepmother and sisters.
As the lead voice in the "Medea" songs, Kate Mulligan’s stirring
alto gives the numbers more vigor and stage presence than Peck’s
light soprano. Wandering around the stage with a variety of string
instruments, David Markowitz lends color to the otherwise recorded
background music.
By the time the clock strikes midnight, there is no turning back
for any of the characters. Though Macbeth laments his role in a
"tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing," we know that the opposite is true. Cornerstone and the
Actors’ Gang are telling not one, but three ingenious tales, which
probably deserve three careful viewings to reveal their rich
significance.
Even when things get overwhelming on stage, the audience can’t
help but sit back and marvel at the complexity of it all, the skill
and rehearsal time it must have required. But, in the words of
Cinderella’s fairy godmother, apparently "It’s possible."
THEATER: "Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella" runs through May 9 at the
Actors’ Gang Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. Tickets are $15, $10
for students and seniors. Call (213) 660-8587.