CurtainUp
CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH


REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Miss Lulu Bett


Lulu, take thee, Ninian, to be my wedded husband..— Miss Lulu Bett
Miss Lulu Bett
Laurie Schroeder (Photo: Gerry Goodstein)
Who would have thought that Zona Gale's Miss Lulu Bett would be getting new legs? Although it's been 10 years since its last New York production, this 1921 Pulitzer Prize winner is being staged at the Workshop Theater Company's Main Stage to celebrate Women's History Month. Helmed by Kathleen Brant, this social drama is showing its age, but its amazing spirit is still intact.

The story is engrossing and builds up to a shattering climax. Set in a small town in Wisconsin, it traces the experience of Miss Lulu Bett, the 34-year-old unmarried sister of Mrs. Ina Deacon. Lulu is a servant in the family home, earning her keep by taking care of the household. A visit from Deacon's impulsive brother Ninian brings an unexpected romance and marriage proposal. Seizing the chance to leave the Deacon home and have a life of her own, Lulu marries Ninian and both set off to Savannah to begin a new life. But when Lulu learns a terrible secret about Ninian's past, it destroys their relationship and the little emotional security she had gained. Returning to the Deacon home in Wisconsin, she is faced with the dreadful dilemma of telling the actual truth to folks or lying to save the family's reputation.

Miss Lulu Bett glows with wistful beauty. In some elusive way, it touches the heart and stirs your sympathy for its titular character. Uneducated and oppressed by her Midwestern family Lulu is hardly a New Woman . But she grows immensely during the course of the story, and before you exit the theater you will witness her indomitable will and fearlessness.

Critics and scholars have rightly compared Gale's play to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. Both works emphasize the unequal position of women in a household, and how toxic that can be to a woman's psyche. Discrimination against women was very much on Gale's mind when she penned Miss Lulu Bett. She took an active role in the creation of the Wisconsin Equal Rights Law, which prohibited discrimination against women. But her play speaks beyond gender. It also exposes the power of money and the darker realities of the American class system.

The play's history is unique. Originally a novella, it was dramatized by Gale in a mere 8 days and its first production was at Sing Sing Prison on December 26, 1920. Just a day later it opened on Broadway to good reviews. Notwithstanding, Gale was persuaded to rework the her conclusion for commercial purposes (and an anticipated National Tour). Gale called this revision an "inartistic happy ending." She wisely retained the original script and later, she published both versions, convinced that they were not antithetical but different expressions of the play's central themes.

Brant has decided to go with the original feminist ending. Thus, we have a rare opportunity to see the play in its pristine version. One of the play's key themes is human inertia and the challenges of overcoming its poison if one is to emerge as a vigorous individual. In an early scene, we can clearly see this theme surface when Ninian asks Lulu why she doesn't leave her demeaning job at the Deacons' home. She explains, "But, you see, I can't do any other work— that's the trouble— women like me can't do any other work."

The production is shrewdly cast and soundly directed. In the leading role, Laurie Schroeder deftly captures the introverted pride and quiet shame of Lulu. All the other parts are competently acted by the large ensemble: David M. Mead as the paterfamilias Dwight Deacon; Anne Fizzard as his conventional wife Ina; Mary Ruth Baggott as their naïve daughter Diana; Kate Castaneda-La Mar (alternating with Maya Jasinska) as the bratty younger daughter Monona; Gerrianne Raphael as the stoic Mrs. Betts; Dan Patrick Brady as the caddish Ninian; Ben Sumrall as the young suitor Bobby Larkin; and Michael Gnat as Lulu's loyal friend.

Performed in the intimacy of a small black box theater with a minimalist set (by Craig M. Napoliello), one can truly feel the immediacy and power of the play. The production's big gaffe is the conspicuous omission of sex. There is flirting flecked into a number of scenes, but nothing to ruffle any petticoat. Even when Lulu returns to the Deacon homestead after being married to Ninian for one month, there is no mention of their sexual intimacy, only that she is "a fallen woman." Obviously, sex was a taboo subject in the polite society of the ywenties. Yet considering that Gale's contemporary, Eugene O'Neill, was pushing the theatrical boundaries in 1921 by having a prostitute represented in Anna Christie, Gale was far more conservative in her dramatic writing.

As the first female-penned Pulitzer Prize winner, Miss Lulu Bett stands out in theater history. Though other important American plays have joined the female canon, Gale's work was the progenitor, and changed the theatrical landscape. That's why you won't want to miss this rare revival of a landmark work, don't miss this current production. By staging the original version Brant doesn't give you a happy ending, but something more vital: an unvarnished portrait of an American family.

Editor's Note: The other revival Deirdre mentioned was produced by the Mint Theater company (also the original version). To read that review go here.
Miss Lulu Bett
Written by Zona Gale
Directed by Kathleen Brant
Cast: Mary Ruth Baggott (Diana Deacon), Dan Patrick Brady (Ninian Deacon), Kate Castaneda-La Mar & Maya Jasinska (Monona Deacon), Anne Fizzard (Ina Deacon), Michael Gnat (Cornish), David M. Mead (Dwight Deacon), Gerrianee Raphael (Mrs. Bett), Ben Sumrall (Bobby Larkin), Laurie Schroeder (Miss Lulu Bett).
Sets: Craig M. Napoliello
Costumes: Anna Gerdes
Sound: Jeffrey Swan Jones
Lighting: Diana Duecker
Stage Manager: Patrick Clayton
Workshop Theater Company at 312 W. 36th St., 4th Floor Main Stage. Tickets: $18. Phone 212/695-4173
From 3/18/10; opening 3/18/10; closing 4/03/10.
The performance schedule is: Thursday March 18th through Saturday March 20th and Monday March 22nd @ 8pm. Wednesday March 24th through Saturday March 27th @ 8pm and Wednesday March 31st through Saturday April 3rd @ 8pm.
Running time: 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on March 19th press performance
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of
  • I disagree with the review of
  • The review made me eager to see
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review.

You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook , Curtainup at Twitter and at our Blog Annex
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe, E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country.
South Pacific  Revival
South Pacific


In the Heights
In the Heights


Playbillyearbook
Playbill Broadway Yearbook


broadwaynewyork.com


amazon




©Copyright 2010, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com