STAGE REVIEW : LONDONERS’ ‘TEMPEST’ IS BECALMED

Actors From the London Stage are displaying their wares these days on an American one--at Occidental College--and the results are mixed.

Part of this verdict stems from the wretched sightline problem in Thorne Hall, where the actors appear in a five-person version of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” But part of it, too, stems from the evening itself, which seems more valuable for student actors than satisfying to a general public.

There is first the obvious challenge (to the players and their audience) of five actors on a bare stage doing 17 roles in street clothes (more or less--Sarah Berger, the lone woman in the group, wears a filmy white, ankle-length gown that serves her well as both Ariel and Miranda; a lavender sash differentiates between Prospero and his brother Antonio, both played by Trevor Baxter). With some carefully applied cleverness, identities manage to remain distinct if not always compelling--but how distinct for someone unfamiliar with the play? Brush up on your “Tempest” if you plan to attend.

These performances, open to the public, are a bonus, if you will--the climax of a campus residency by the actors, who conduct workshops with students at the college (see accompanying story by Carol Baker). The program is the brainchild of UC Santa Barbara Professor Homer Swander, who established his Alliance for Creative Theatre, Education and Research (ACTER) several years ago and now plans to expand it to include American actors. It’s at the workshop/residency level that it is the most significant and rewarding.

The trimmed-down versions of plays for public consumption have had a less consistent track record, depending on the versions and the participants (among them, Ben Kingsley, on a number of pre-”Ghandi” occasions).

The decision this year to present “The Tempest” virtually uncut seems odd. With such a bare-bones visual approach (made harder by those previously mentioned sightlines), some slimming of the text might have been wise. Once the actors have displayed their agility, bouncing from role to role, the performance--especially in this case--becomes not much more than an overextended reading.

There is only so much marvel one can muster watching actors try different characters, especially when some of the performances are well spoken but unremarkable. Baxter’s Prospero is given to line-readings of such calculated nuance that they sound good, but lack freshness and conviction. Berger’s Ariel (more so than her Miranda, which has a requisite innocence) is postured rather than persuasive.

Where is the passion we have a right to expect? In the hands of the other three actors.

Bruce Alexander’s Caliban makes such a strong case for his seniority on this island that one resents the smugness of this Prospero for taking it away from him--and treating him so abusively besides. Tom Mannion is a wonderfully spontaneous, playful and ardent Ferdinand and a pixilated Trinculo, while George Raistrick is every bit his match as the drunken butler Stephano. The scenes among these three (Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano) have a vibrancy absent from the rest of the evening.

This quintet also offers another program called “Pinter This Evening,” devised by Swander and consisting of prose readings by and about Harold Pinter, selected scenes from Pinter plays and a full reading of his “Betrayal.” This program, which played Thursday (and was not reviewed), may in fact be more manageable. Pinter’s ellipticity and spareness would at least seem to better match the limitations imposed upon the players. The Pinter evening has one more performance at Cal State Los Angeles (March 11 at 8 p.m.).

“The Tempest” repeats tonight and Saturday, 8:15 p.m., at Thorne Hall. (Occidental, which is about to acquire a brand-new theater, must consider revamping the seating in Thorne.) Tickets are $4.50 (students), $7 (seniors) and $9, (213) 259-2677 or (818) 249-8411. It then plays Cal State L.A. March 13 and 14, 8 p.m.; tickets $2 (students and seniors) and $5, (213) 224-3344.