Date: Fri 24-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Wharf-Hughes-Conquer-theatre

Full Text:

(rev "She Stoops To Conquer" @Long Wharf, 10/24/97)

Theatre Review--

Hughes' Long Wharf Debut Certainly "Conquers"

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN -- It was true bedlam in the lobby of the Long Wharf Theater on a

recent Saturday as several hundred frantic subscribers tried to figure out

where to go to be given their tickets to Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to

Conquer. For some unexplained reason the company neglected to mail said

tickets out.

Many long-time patrons had only learned that they were scheduled for

Saturday's performance when they found messages on their answering machine

advising them of the fact. The box office staff seemed overwhelmed by the

logistical problem and the whole scene was reminiscent of the DMV the day

after a holiday.

Forty minutes after the play was due to start, with the crowd growing restless

and crabby, muttering about using force or else switching their allegiance to

the Hartford Stage Company, the nervous house staff threw up their hands and

said, "Oh just go on in and sit down wherever you see an empty seat."

It took about 90 seconds before rancor melted and the audience, as one,

realized that whatever mess the box office had created, Long Wharf's new

artistic director -- Doug Hughes -- was starting off with an absolutely

smashing production.

Goldsmith's 225-year old period piece, She Stoops To Conquer combines

consummate perfectionism of detail with hilarious comic timing and clever

innovation. Yet it is as accessible to modern audiences as it was beloved by

18th Century ones.

The plot revolves around the predicament of a handsome young Londoner, one

Charles Marlowe, who can be bold and seductive with women of the lower

classes, but is paralyzed with embarrassment in the presence of women of his

own rank, which happens to be the "kind" he is expected to marry.

Charles' father sends him to the county where his old friend Mr Hardcastle has

a beautiful daughter, Kate, in the hope that a match can be arranged.

Meanwhile, Hardcastle's lout of a stepson, Tony Lumpkin, plays a practical

joke, leading Marlowe to believe the Hardcastle estate is actually an inn, and

the clever young woman in attendance there is merely a barmaid. This allows

for many a comic situation based on mistaken identity and misunderstanding as

the resourceful Kate does what she has to in order to win her man.

There are the requisite sub-plots as Kate's friend Constance Neville must

outwit her greedy and foolish aunt, Mrs Hardcastle, in order to find happiness

with Marlowe's companion, George Hastings, and the oafish Tony comes into his

own as a fellow of wit and daring.

Done indifferently, this could be a bore. On stage at Long Wharf it is an

absolute joy.

The quadruple set, rotating to reveal by turns the courtyard of the Hardcastle

estate, the interior of the house, a low class ale house and a country garden,

is done in loving detail that is so evocative it suggests a Constable painting

come to life. Add to this Linda Fisher's costumes, which combine wit and

pageantry, using color to great effect without getting in the way of the play

itself, and the incidental music of pipes and fiddle which begin as part of

the revelry in the tavern and continue throughout the play, and you begin to

get a sense of Mr Hughes' theatrical vision.

Of course all this would be static without acting performances to match.

Happily these are present in profusion. As Tony Lumpkin, Christopher Evan

Welch has the comic presence and intensity of a young John Belushi. Katheryn

Meisle sparkles as Kate, and Marcus Giamatti mixes charm and absurdity as the

conflicted Marlowe.

David Margulies is excellent as Squire Hardcastle, who wisely prefers the

country and recognizes folly for what it is. Pamela Payton Wright as Pamela is

patiently ridiculous as his foolish wife.

If this is what Doug Hughes brings to Long Wharf, then who cares about

ticketing procedures? This is a must-see production!

Doug Hughes' artistic directing debut, She Stoops to Conquer continues at Long

Wharf through November 12. Tickets may be reserved through Long Wharf's box

office; call 787-4284. The theatre is at 222 Sargent Drive in New Haven.