Tuesday, October 21, 1997
College life, love mocked in gentle romantic satire
THEATER ‘Bamberwood’ portrays love triangles at small, radical
university
By Kristi Nakamura
Daily Bruin Contributor
Three students and two professors all looking for love create a
sort of modern "Midsummer Night’s Dream" complete with magic
mushrooms, sexual interludes and even a little ballet.
No classrooms, no grades and only three students to a class.
Nudist-vegetarian dorms. Welcome to Bamberwood College in 1972.
Kirsten Dahl’s new romantic comedy "Bamberwood," about five
mismatched lovers at a radical school in ’70s Vermont, is enjoying
its world premiere at the MET Theatre in Hollywood.
The storyline, as well as the characters, are interesting and
unique. Dahl creatively incorporates lines from Shakespeare’s "A
Midsummer Night’s Dream" to emphasize the parallels between his
characters and hers.
The play opens with a professor at Bamberwood, Liska, speaking
to a womanizing old flame, Rudy, for whom she still harbors
feelings. Liska offers Rudy’s struggling career a change by helping
him land a teaching job at Bamberwood. The play follows the trials
and misunderstandings of Liska and Rudy’s re-budding relationship,
as Rudy discovers a true passion for dance through teaching.
The three students in Rudy’s ballet class only complicate
matters as the innocent Thea falls for Rudy, Wick the clown falls
for Thea, and the ever-experimenting Andromeda attempts to liberate
herself from the patriarchal society by forcing herself to be a
lesbian.
The dialogue is well-written and witty. Many of the scenes are
hilarious in their portrayal of college life at this small school
of the avant-garde. Although many of the situations are extreme and
vastly different from the "typical" college experience, there is
still an element of truth that the audience can easily relate
to.
Dahl captures the true emotion of what it is to be a young,
insecure college student trying to discover a place to belong in
the world or what it means to be one of the people who are trying
to help these students find their way.
The five characters, who each have their own eccentricities and
over-the-top characteristics, are vastly different. The characters’
individuality provides a range for everyone in the audience to
identify with at least one character.
While all of the roles were performed well, Jenifer Kingsley
stands out in her role as Andromeda. Kingsley brings humor and
earthliness to the character with her facial expression and
well-timed delivery of clever lines.
The ballet was innovative and smoothly integrated within the
scenes. The Westside Ballet dancers and the actors blended
seamlessly to create an unbroken storyline as the play transitioned
between acting and ballet.
The only dance double who did not merge successfully with his
character was the double for Rudy. While Scott Connell, the actor
who played Rudy, appeared athletic and moved with a very masculine
grace, James Riley Joyce, the dance double, seemed a little stiff
and uncomfortable in his movements.
Andromeda’s dance scenes, however, produced another exceptional
performance. Carolyn Lawrence, the Andromeda dance double, combined
exquisite technique and expressiveness in her dancing. Lawrence
slid easily from squirming-on-the-floor modern to more classical
ballet.
While the play in its entirety was enjoyable, the first act was
much better than the second. The first act set up a complex and
interesting dynamic between the students and teachers of Bamberwood
and their romantic troubles. The second act seemed to disregard the
care with which the first act was constructed by allowing
everything to fall neatly and perfectly into place in too short of
a time.
While Dahl seems to understand the basic emotions that thrive on
a college campus, the quick ending leaves the audience without a
complete sense of closure. The solution was almost too easy. Life
and the complex emotional issues brought up do not just come
perfectly together just in time for the big performance, as Dahl
suggests.
Nonetheless, "Bamberwood" is a charming, fun performance with
many talented performers and a lot to say about the college
experience.
THEATER: "Bamberwood" runs through Nov. 23 at the MET Theatre,
1089 N. Oxford Ave. in Hollywood. Tickets are $20. Student, senior,
and group discounts available. For more information call (213)
957-1152.
The MET Theatre
(left to right) Chad Tillner, Julie Letsche, and James Riley
Joyce star in "Bamberwood."