Date: Fri 02-Aug-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: CHRISL

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

theatre-Lettice-Lovage

Full Text:

(rev "Lettice & Lovage" @TheatreWorks New Milford)

Theatre Review-

Contrasting Friends At TheatreWorks

(with photo)

By Julie Stern

NEW MILFORD - Lettice Douffet is a middle-aged Englishwoman who grew up in

France where her mother worked as a touring actress, starring in her own

all-female, itinerant Shakespearian company. This unconventional upbringing

left her with an abiding love of language, a flamboyant sense of style, and

certain highly specialized areas of knowledge including Elizabethan foods and

medieval weaponry. On the down side, it has left her poorly equipped to fit

into the pale plastic world of contemporary Britain.

Computer illiterate and mechanically disinclined, Lettice staves off poverty

by working as a tour guide for the National Preservation Trust, leading

parties of sheep-like visitors through the halls of Fustian House, the most

boring stately home in all of England. This is the basis of Lettice and Lovage

, the current offering by TheatreWorks New Milford. It continues until August

17.

Because nothing ever happened in Fustian House, Lettice is driven to capture

her listeners' attention by reinventing history, manufacturing "family

legends" far more romantic and exciting than the truth: Founder Sir John

Fustian was a local merchant, elevated to a knighthood because he once caught

Queen Elizabeth I by the elbow as she tripped on the hem of her dress, thereby

saving her from a fall.

As her tales grow more elaborate, Lettice wins increased respect and ample

tips from her impressed audiences, but word filters back to Preservation Trust

headquarters. A dramatic conflict is established when Lettice is caught by

Lotte Schoen, a tyrannical and implacably hard-nosed supervisor who will not

tolerate such outrageous departures from sacred historical facts.

Playwright Peter Shaffer, always a master of wry humor and surprise twists of

plot, weaves his story around the unexpected friendship that develops between

these two women and the startling consequences that ensue.

Director Rita Rable has been very fortunate in recruiting three very talented

performers for this challenging comedy. In the role originated by Maggie

Smith, Charlotte Hampden-Camillos captures the melodramatic outrageousness of

Lettice while at the same time being able to convey the underlying dignity of

a theatrical idealist who longs for the vigor and passion of bygone times.

In contrast, Shirley Kibbe conveys the rigid and righteously judgmental Lotte,

who prefers buildings to people and whose tautly controlled exterior conceals

reservoirs of repressed emotion. In her contempt for shoddiness and weakness,

she delivers a convincing condemnation of all that is cheap and ugly in the

modern world.

As the two play off each other, Hampden-Camillos and Kibbe win a good many

laughs but they also have something serious to say about what it really means

to appreciate culture, beauty and history.

Finally, in a role confined to the third act, Doug Schlicher turns in a gem of

a performance as a nervous legal aid lawyer called in to get Lettice out of

some very major trouble.

Lettice and Lovage is TheatreWorks New Milford at its best, complete with an

ambitious and extensive stage set designed by Leif Smith and constructed by

most of the western world. It starts with a highly entertaining work and

delivers a thoroughly crafted and polished production.

The theatre was sold out for the opening weekend as well it should be. This is

definitely worth going to see.

Lettice and Lovage, at TheatreWorks New Milford through August 17, has a

Friday and Saturday curtain at 8 pm. General admission tickets are $12 each,

$10 for students and seniors. The TheatreWorks stage is at 5 Brookside Avenue

in New Milford; telephone 860/350-6863.