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A CurtainUp Review
Fallen Angels
| "You know what we are, don't you? Were the slaves of coincidence - we always have been, it does make life so dreadfully difficult!" — Jane (to Julia)
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Julie Jesneck as Julia and Melissa Miller as JanePhoto.
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It may take you a while, as it did me, to become receptive to Arbour's approach to the pretentiously prescribed style and the free-wheeling, almost farcical antics. But what could be better on a hot summer evening than to be seduced by a talented ensemble of actors who harbor no fear of going over-the-top whether defining their characters with highly affected mannerisms or deploying the barrage of often nonsensical blather with unapologetic gusto.
This is a play in which a search for anything close to reality, truth, logic and motivation or any other such modern dramatic consideration is bound to be futile. My advice is to simply let it happen.
It's the Roaring Twenties and smoking cigarettes and thoughts of sexual liberation have not been lost on women of the upper class, especially on Julia Sterroll (Julie Jesneck) and her best friend Jane Banburry (Melissa Miller) as they attempt to relieve the boredom of their lives with stuffy husbands. As I listened to them hatch a plan to re-ignite a romantic affair that they both shared successively (of course) with a dashing Frenchman in Italy years before they were married, I couldn't help thinking about their more contemporary sisters in sexual rebellion Thelma and Louise who also discovered that taking a little vacation from the overbearing men in their lives wasn't destined to go as planned.
Program notes state that Fallen Angels was "anecdotally inspired a by true story of Coward and a female friend awaiting their mutual ex-lover." The plot turns on the machinations of Julie and Jane as they exhaustingly prepare for the anticipated arrival of their former paramour Maurice Duclos (Michael Sharon). With Julia's husband Fred (Jeffrey M. Bender) and Jane's husband Willy (Ned Noyes) off on a golfing holiday, the women, with hardly a thought as to who gets the first nimble, nearly implode with the thought of a romantic dalliance with the man that neither has seen in seven years.
The events unfold in the Sterroll's London flat (handsomely designed by Charles Corcoran with a touch of Art Deco) on the first day of employment of the Sterroll's new maid Saunders (Allison Mackie). She's a been-there, done-that, say-it-funnier house-keeper of many talents that inclde performing all her usual duties while also finding time to sing a ditty, play a few bars of a concerto on the piano, put in her two cents, as well as serve an elegant meal that's actually served in courses and eaten by Julia and Jane as they get increasingly sloshed by the re-fills of cocktails, champagne and brandy. Costume designer Martha Bromelmeier has outfitted the women in an array of beautiful 1920s haute couture.
Chattering and bantering naturally leads to fighting and discord which naturally leads to a misunderstanding and the long awaited moment of truth when Maurice finally arrives. But so do the husbands with a need to know what's going on when they show up unexpectedly. You really don't need to know any more.
There is just enough psychological head-spinning to balance the physical horseplay that allows us to reflect a little on Julia's perspective: that loving someone isn't the same as being in love. Yes, Fallen Angels is dated and quaint, but it is also a timeless reminder that women can, when they set their minds to it, hold onto their men and quite possibly that other man as well.
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Fallen Angels By Noel Coward Directed by Matthew Arbour Cast: Julie Jesneck (Julia Sterroll), Jeffrey M. Bender (Fred Sterroll), Allison Mackie (Saunders), Ned Noyes (Willy Banbury), Melissa Miller (Jane Banbury), Michael Sharon (Maurice Duclos) Scenic Design: Charles Corcoran Costume Designer: Martha Bromelmeier Lighting Designer: Tony Galaska Sound Designer: Jane Shaw Running Time: 2 hours with one intermission Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, on the campus of Drew University, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ (973) 408 - 5600 Tickets: $35.00 - $70.00 Performances: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays at 7:30 pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. From 07/03/13 Opened 07/06/13 Ends 07/28/13 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 07/09/13 |
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