Watch on the Rhine in Concert
Watch on the Rhine
BackStage
Harry Forbes
October, 2005
It's good to be reminded that a vehicle now most remembered as a Bette Davis late-night staple holds its own quite well on stage, thank you, and in this case a stage without the frills of a full production.
What TACT's semistaged reading of Lillian Hellman's 1941 antifascist drama does provide are the key elements for a compelling theatrical evening: fine actors and a director -- Scott Alan Evans -- who knows how to maintain tension and urgency.
The setting is Washington, D.C., where well-to-do matron Fanny Farrelly (Cynthia Harris) awaits the return of her daughter Sara (Francesca Di Mauro), who's been living abroad with German husband Kurt (Daniel Oreskes) and their children. Fanny's been allowing a penniless Romanian count named Teck De Brancovis (Terry Layman) and his wife, Marthe (Margaret Nichols) -- whose marriage has gone cold -- to reside there. Marthe loves Fanny's son David (Kyle Fabel), but a greater conflict will arise when the slimy Teck uncovers Kurt's identity as an anti-Nazi agent and attempts to blackmail him.
The cast is uniformly strong. Oreskes, projecting quiet strength and integrity, and Layman, smooth villainy, make convincing adversaries. Harris plays the grande dame with authority, and Di Mauro projects unshakeable resolve in supporting her husband, even as she stands silently upstage. Fabel is credible as her impulsively defensive brother.
Darrie Lawrence and Scott Schafer excel as servants, and the youngsters -- Sean J. Moran, Travis Walters, and Leah Morales -- acquit themselves well, German accents and all.
Mary Louise Geiger's lighting and David Toser's costumes help you forget that this is a reading, as does David Macdonald's score (played live by four musicians), which reminds us how much music can add to a play.
"Watch on the Rhine" -- which, melodramatic flourishes aside, still resonates -- was last seen on Broadway in 1980. If memory serves, TACT's revival is superior.