It isn’t easy to get the perfect blend of humor and drama, but the Next Stage’s production of Austin Pendleton’s “Orson’s Shadow” does exactly this.
“Orson’s Shadow” takes a look into a short but pivotal time in the lives of some of Hollywood’s most legendary stars. The play has only six characters: actors Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Joan Plowright and Orson Welles; critic Kenneth Tynan; and a stagehand named Sean.
As Olivier, Plowright and Welles prepare to put on a production of Eugene Ionesco’s play “Rhinoceros,” their lives swell with the drama of egos, creative differences, and personal and marital struggles.
The theater itself seats about 50 people, with the audience positioned around three quarters of the stage. The intimate space of the theater and the proximity of the audience to the actors gives the audience almost voyeuristic glimpses into the personal conflicts of these legendary stars’ lives.
The actors’ portrayals are true to the characters they are playing, such as Susan Riddiford Shedd’s poignant portrayal of the tragically ill Leigh and the emotional subtlety of Sunam Ellis’s Plowright.
Each actor plays off each other flawlessly, the skittishness of Tom McClary’s Tynan a perfect contrast to the booming voiced Lloyd Short as Welles. Zach Miller charms as Sean, the chipper stagehand, and the intimidation factor and strive for excellence in Hutton’s Laurence Olivier is completely believable.
The only trouble is that audiences may be too young to know the details of what was occurring in the characters’ lives at the time, making it difficult to fully understand some of the topics of the dialogue. For instance, if someone had not known that Olivier had rarely performed anything other than Shakespeare on the stage, than the significance of his performance in “The Entertainer” — a comedy that is much discussed in the play — might be lost on an audience.
All in all, “Orson’s Shadow,” directed by Robert W. Schneider, is an entertaining play, as dramatic as it is humorous, and incredibly acted.
Chloe Rabinowitz can be reached at cdtweekender@centredaily.com.
"Orson's Shadow" will be staged at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 11; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., State College. Call 272-0606 or visit www.thestatetheatre.org for more information.
