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Times Like These
by Laura Hitchcock
Laurie O'Brien & Norbert Weisser
(Photo: Neil France) |
Set during Hitler's rise to power, the play is loosely based on the story of Jewish actress Meta Wolff and her Aryan husband Joachim Gottschalk, here called Oskar Weiss. It begins with the adoring Oskar at the feet of his glorious wife after her last great Berlin triumph.
It could be all down hill for Meta after thatbut she won't allow it. She can't bear to leave her husband and her beloved Berlin. Even when she's forbidden to act and even attend the theatre, she coaches and goads the tentative Oskar into portrayals of Petruchio and Hamlet modeled on Nazi storm troopers.
We get to see Meta's fabulous ferocious Petruchio, which makes Oskar a star, and sows the seeds of his vicious Hamlet. Here O'Keefe uses an actor's technique of letting the characterization work from the outside in.
In the Berlin of 1939 Oskar's Hamlet liberates every angry cruel impulse he ever repressed. Liberate can be a loaded double entendre. When Meta takes the first step towards her own final solution, Oskar's immediate impulse is to join her.
Although the play could do with trimming, O'Keefe's direction is so deep and fierce and the actors so engaged, that it's over before you notice. He finds the playfulness and dependencies that make the lovers' relationship so irreplaceble.
Laurie O'Brien and Norbert Weisser, whom this writer saw co-star in Mary Barnes, play off each other with the ease of actors who've worked together a long time. They support each other and project a loving, fearless partnership that's totally convincing.
O'Brien has the more flamboyant part and knows what to do with it. Her Meta is without doubt a great star with a fluting laugh that covers fear. She's maddeningly imperious but her refusal to flee Berlin gives her a vulnerability that deepens Oskar's devotion and makes him stronger.
Weisser finds the simple glee in Oskar. Though he grows into the harsh oppressive Shakespearean roles, he never fails to convey that the climax of playing them is coming home to tell Meta about it.
The impeccably elegant '30s clothes are designed by Bridget Phillips. Christopher R. Boltz suggests the luxurious apartment with a few well-chosen pieces of furniture on the stage's tiny set, augmented by Rand Ryan's lighting and O-Lan Jones's sound coordination.
The play, a Padua Playwrights Production, closes at the 2100 Square Feet Theater December 14 and re-opens at The Odyssey Theatre January 10 where it will run through February 23.
Times Like These is a memory play that speaks to tomorrow. It bristles with rage, ambition, vanity, fear, and passion, always passion.
| TIMES LIKE THESE Playwright/Director: John O'Keefe Cast: Laurie O'Brien (Meta Wolff), Norbert Weisser (Oskar Weiss) Set Design: Christopher R. Boltz Lighting Design: Rand Ryan Costume Design: Bridget Phillips Running Time: Two hours 15 minutes with one 10-minute intermission. Running Dates: Dec 6-14 at 2100 Square Feet, 5615 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, Ph: (323) 692-2652 January 10-February 23, 2003, at The Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, ph: (310) 477-2055. Reviewed by Laura Hitchcock on November 30. |
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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