The Alchemist
The Herndon Times Review
THEATER
The Alchemist: For the intelligent audience
By Michael Birchenall
Weekender Theater Critic
Page A4 (Continued on page 14)
TIMES COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER (The Herndon Times)
Wednesday, January 24, 2001
"The Alchemist," by Ben Jonson, as performed by the Elden Street
Players of Herndon, is an almost-400-year-old wonder of classic theater. Written
in 1610, Jonson studies with a keen satirical edge, the matters of the gullible.
For the 21st century audience, the foundation of alchemy can baffle the audience
with story and word - requiring some understanding of the action to taking
place.
"Alchemy is the art of manipulating life and consciousness in a matter
to help it evolve or to solve problems of inner disharmony," according to
Jean Dubuis, founder of "Le Philosophes du Nature," in France.
Jonson's play captures the root of the theoretical definition and distills it
into an easy-to-digest comedy of gullibility and volatile action. But, you are
required to think.
With bold intentions, Elden Street Players - with "The Alchemist" -
has once again pushed the community theater experience beyond the safe formulas
for building audience. A full house on opening night showed there is a demand
for intelligent theater.
That is not to say that it was a perfect evening. Variance in acting levels
jumps out more when the complexity of the play goes up. One point of concern is
the diction of the actors - perhaps as they were directed by Adam Konowe.
The somewhat straight American slant to the voice of the characters made it
seem as if it should be set on the American prairie, not in London. The meter
and inflections are confused. Once working beyond the language, the audience is
guided by the emotion and expression of the acting ensemble - some actors handle
this better than others.
The story line evolves when the plague drives owner of the house, Lovewit,
from London, his butler, Face, sets up shop in the house with fellow
conspirators, Subtle and Dol Common, to prey on the vain and greedy ambitions of
those around them.
Deryl Davis delivers a sterling performance as the butler of the house, Face.
Expressive, competent and convincing, Davis rolls through the storyline with
sharp acting. He holds the play together with his command of the story and mood.
Not as exciting is the interpretation by Al Myska of Subtle. His straight-ahead
approach to the lines and story miss the weaving complexity of the Jonson tale.
Two other performances of note are Maggie Geuting as Ananias. Geuting grabs
the audience with her expressive face and voice. She speaks with gusto of the
surrounding greed, lust and deadly sins. Vanessa Knight as the Dame Pliant gives
a strong rendering of a somewhat minor role, made more important by her ability
to absorb the character and deliver it within the director's vision and the
playwright's words.
Set design by Al Fetske is a clean, well thought out stage for "The
Alchemist."
ŠArcom Publishing Inc. - Reston/Herndon 2001
