Admit it: you read the tabloids, watch behind-the-scenes television and wonder what famous people do in their everyday lives. Well, New Repertory Theatre's "Orson's Shadow" is one giant step up (okay, maybe a couple) from the paparazzi in sophistication. It is an imagined but realistically based insider's look at the life of actor and director Orson Welles (best known for directing "Citizen Kane" (1941)).
"Orson's Shadow," at the Arsenal Center for the Arts through March 18, is a story inspired by the real-life meeting of two media legends in theater history. In this play, Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier are united by well-known and sharp-tongued but stuttering theater critic Kenneth Tynan to work together on the bizarre production of Ionesco's "Rhinoceros." Other key figures in this work are Joan Plowright ("The Entertainer" (1960)) and Vivien Leigh ("Gone with the Wind" [1939]).
Don't be fooled - the storyline might seem a bit grave, but "Orson's Shadow" is laugh-out-loud funny, though some of the jokes (undoubtedly geared towards a somewhat older audience) may pass overhead. The acting is spectacular, and the show seems all the more realistic because of the props, such as the food and beverages that are used (they are not mere replicas, but are instead very real).
Each of the actors in this production is memorable, and it would be hard to single just one out. Steven Barkhimer (who has won an Independent Reviewers of New England [IRNE] award for Best Supporting Actor for previous work) stars as Orson Welles, the rotund, robust and short-tempered burnout who will never be able to even come close to the success he experienced with "Citizen Kane." He manages to make his character both disagreeable yet pitiable and carries much of the comedic weight (pun intended) in the show.
Jason Marr plays Orson's clever, sickly and heavy-smoking critic friend Kenneth Tynan. Marr, though playing a somewhat conniving individual, is capable of making his character very likable, and his character's nervous stutter provides much comedic relief in this play.
Tuck Milligan plays Laurence Olivier (or Larry as he is often referred to), and his performance is memorable. Olivier is rude, self-important and yet very insecure and pitiable as he struggles between his insane and promiscuous wife Vivien Leigh (Debra Wise) and his new younger mistress Joan Plowright (Helen McElwain). Tynan convinces Olivier to use Welles as the director of his newest production, but sparks fly as the two egomaniacs collide professionally and personally, and voil? , comedy is born.
Austin Pendleton, though perhaps best known as an actor, puts his knowledge of Orson Welles and Hollywood to good use in writing this riveting comedic drama. Pendleton's other writing credits include "Booth" and "Uncle Bob." In particular, "Orson's Shadow" was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the Top 10 Plays of 2005, and the New Repertory Theatre has done a superb job of conveying Austin Pendleton's vision.
Adam Zahler, who has directed plays such as "The Glass Menagerie" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the New Repertory Theatre in the past, deserves to be commended for his direction of this play. There is a very delicate and necessary balance between the tragic and the comic in the production, and this can be accredited both to Pendleton for the writing and also to Zahler for ensuring that this integral balance is conveyed.
Located in Watertown, The New Repertory Theatre itself is a bit of a way's off, but this production is well worth the trip. The cast is compelling, and the storyline is just right for both comedy and tragedy lovers alike. Don't be misled by the rather ominous title, "Orson's Shadow" will actually cast light on the life of Orson Welles, and the moods of theatergoers as well.
