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Duse’s Fever


I’d much rather live in the shade of a genius than in the light of an idiot! —Nina Gibello
Duse . . .was the finest thing I have seen on the stage. —Charlie Chaplin


a list of all book reviews, see our,
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Eleonora Duse herself couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated and admiring biographer than Mica Bagnasco, the author and star of Duse’’s Fever. The one-woman show at Theatre Row is a real love letter to the legendary Italian actress. Although only an hour long, it leaves no stone unturned in documenting Duse’s life, loves and great performances.
As a biography, Duse’s Fever is an interesting account of a colorful and passionate life. As a play, however, it’s disappointing and rather aimless.

Duse, a rival of Sarah Bernhardt’s, was an actress as devoted to her craft as any ever was. A highly naturalistic actress, she received acclaim from such disparate figures as Charlie Chaplin and Konstantin Stanislavsky. Bagnasco tells us of her many love affairs, her determination to perform through illness, her reluctant motherhood and an endless array of inspiring performances.

A life like this can't help but be interesting and Bagnasco documents them with pride and clarity.So what’s the problem? To begin with, we never see Duse since Bagnasco surprisingly opts not to perform as Duse but as Nina Gibello, her adoring dresser. Thus we get to know Duse strictly through Nina which makes for an inversion of the old "show, don’t tell" rule.

Duse's Fever finds Nina waiting in the dressing room while the great actress is performing Hedda Gabler. It's 1923 and Duse is dying from tuberculosis so that just getting through each performance is a torturous ordeal. This has Nina becomes increasingly distressed as the performance wears on wondering whether tonight be the night the actress won't make it through the performance. The tense situation might be more suspenseful if we could actually see Duse but even if she were to die, there's little momentum for the audience to be caught up in Nina’s panic about her mistress.

The play isn't helped by Douglas Hall’s strangely unrealistic staging. Nina seems to be wandering around for dramatic effect rather than doing her job as a dresser (there are costumes and books lying around which Nina is supposedly cleaning and packing). On a positive note, Kevin Judge and Davide Borella have created attractive scenery and costumes, respectively, so that Bagnasco looks great throughout.

Finally, Nina is an admittedly biased narrator, at one point exclaiming "Art might be her fever, but Madame Duse is mine!" Unfortunately, this unwavering devotion and adoration, makes Duse’s Fever feel more like one of those authorized biographies than a really vibrant drama about the woman whose name drew us to see the play.

DUSE’S FEVER
Written and Performed by Mica Bagnasco
Directed by Douglas S. Hall
Set Design: Kevin Judge
Costume Design: Davide Borella
Lighting Design: Shawn E. Boyle
Sound Design: Jeremy J. Lee
Running time: 60 Minutes, No Intermission
From November 9 to December 2 , 2006; opening November 16, 2006
Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd Street, 212-714-2442
Weds – Fri @ 7:30 pm; Sat @ 2 and 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $35
Reviewed Julia Furay based on November 15 performance
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©Copyright 2006, Elyse Sommer.
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