SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Connecticut Review
Compulsion
|
From amongst themselves a teller must arise. That's my only mission now: to help the teller.—
Mr. Silver
|
Mandy Patinkin
(Photo: Joan Marcus)
|
Miss Mermin (Hanna Cabell) is the publishing executive handling the manipulative and sometimes underhanded negotiations between Anne's father Otto and Silver, various producers and other writers. Stephen Barker Turner's transition to various male roles are often mocked by comments from Silver on the order of "Don't I know you?"
Silver ends up with the short end of the stick each time rights are assigned, but he hangs on to his dream of writing a stage version to produce in Israel, where he and his wife (a second role for Cabel nade possible by Lisa Loen's quick change facilitating costumes) eventually relocate. The words of Anne's diary haunt him, as does Anne, represented by an almost life-sized marionette who visits with him often as he sits at a desk penning her words.
Other marionettes are used to depict characters playing theater scenes and to lend nice special effects to a moment when Mrs. Silver contemplates suicide. The marionettes, with the exception of Anne, who walks freely about the stage, perform on puppet stages incorporated into Eugene Lee's simple gabled frame set.
There is way too much, and often rushed, dialogue about production rights and copyright law, amidst the real story: the growing tension between Silver and his wife who wants him to give up his obsession and the way Anne's voice sounds different to each of them. To Silver (and voiced by Cabell), she is a wise "teller" of the Holocaust and its meaning for the Jewish people; to his wife she just sounds like a small child seeking comfort. , As our sympathies toward his desire to do right by Anne can only extend so far, and Silver's compulsion, which appears to border on madness, soon becomes wearying,.
Groff's idea for the retelling of Frank's story is intriguing, especially since Levin (and thus Silver) once owned a marionette theater in Chicago. However, the marionettes, designed by Matt Acheson, give the play an unsettling, other-worldly feeling. Anne's appearing in bed with the couple, metaphorically coming between them, for example, extends dreamlike to creepy, especially when Patinkin supplies her voice. There are also times when the marionettes make you want to giggle inappropriately (stifled laugher in the audience could be heard regularly).
The play is directed by Oscar Eustis, artistic director of New York's Public Theatre, which co-produces the show with Yale Rep along with Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California. Don't be surprised if you see productions of Compulsion announced for their upcoming 2010-2011 seasons.
|
Compulsion By Rinne Groff Directed by Oscar Eustis Cast: Hannah Cabell (Miss Mermin, Mrs. Silver), Mandy Patinkin (Mr. Silver), Stephen Barker Turner (Mr. Thomas, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ferris, Mr. Matzliach, Mr. Williams), Emily DeCola, Liam Hurley, Eric Wright (puppeteers) Scenic Design: Eugene Lee Costume Design: Lisa Loen Lighting Design: Marie Yokayama Sound Designer: Darron L.West Puppet Designer: Matt Acheson Puppet Consultant: Basil Twist Vocal and Dialect Coach: Thom Jones Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes with a 15 minute intermission Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, at York Street, New Haven Performances: Tuesdays at 8 pm, Wednesdays at 2 pm and 8 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 pm and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. No performances Feb. 6, 27 or Feb. 8-15. Tickets are $35-$82 and are available online at www.yalerep.org, by phone at (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street). Student, senior, and group rates are also available. Jan. 29-Feb. 28Oct. 23-Nov. 14, 2009 Review by Lauren Yarger based on performance of Feb. 4. 2010 |
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail:
 esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.comput SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill Broadway Yearbook
