Taper Makes Move for Hartford’s ‘Peer Gynt’; New Directors to Lead Revamped ‘Formicans’

Tuesday’s announcement that Kenneth Branagh’s London-based Renaissance Theatre Company will bring “King Lear” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in repertory to the Mark Taper Forum has the trappings of a terrific opportunity.

True, the Jan. 21-March 4 bill replaces Tom Stoppard’s “Artist Descending a Staircase” (which will now descend on Broadway), but it is more than a schedule replacement. Not only was this collaboration the result of uncanny timing (coinciding schedule cancellations for both companies made coming together possible), but there was--is--the suggestion this could become a stimulating and ongoing association between the theaters.

It might even culminate--the matter came up--in a mixed company of British and American actors. However, that’s far in the future. For now, the boyish-looking Branagh, 28, and his brash 2-year-old RTC resemble nothing so much as youthful catalysts for the 25-year-old Taper.

Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson doesn’t deny it.

“I’m not making any promises or pretense about the future,” he cautioned Tuesday after the announcement. “This is not a substitute for the work we need and want to do. But it’s a viable alternative in terms of seeing the classics. And it’s affordable from our standpoint, which is important.”

Perhaps not as affordable but certainly as exciting is the news that Davidson is also talking with Mark Lamos, artistic director of Connecticut’s Hartford Stage, about the possibility of restaging the Hartford’s impressive and much-acclaimed two-part “Peer Gynt” at the Taper next season.

Richard Thomas, who earned personal accolades in the title role at Hartford earlier this year, would repeat it at the Taper.

“This is in the context of theaters exchanging projects and personnel,” Davidson said, pointing to the Taper’s “Stand-Up Tragedy” now playing at Hartford. Underscoring his affection for such cross-pollination, he cited Taper associations with New York’s Circle Rep, London’s Royal Court, South Africa’s Market Street Theatre and now, of course, the RTC.

“It makes the theater bigger than the sum of its parts,” he said. “Mark (Lamos) is anxious to take a second look at his work. And Richard (Thomas) would like another crack at a complex part.”

But it’s a massive undertaking and practical considerations could get in the way. “The two theaters are similar, but also different,” Davidson said. “They have a fly gallery and big storage backstage. We don’t. Mark and I had talked about this earlier, but (a couple of weeks ago) was the first time we took a look at the logistics.”

Stay tuned.

THE MATRIX SHUFFLE: The opening of Constance Congdon’s “Tales of the Lost Formicans” has been postponed twice at the Matrix Theatre. It now opens Sunday with new directors: Lee Shallat and Kristoffer Siegel Tabori replacing Michael Arabian.

“We just didn’t see eye to eye,” said producer Joe Stern. “I didn’t recognize that until I saw that (the play) was turning into a sound-and-light show. We set out to do a season about words, two chairs and a table, and we almost got into an event.”

Arabian agrees that his differences with Stern were purely artistic, “but they should not have been,” he said. “When Joe invited me to join the company, he said he wanted me to do something more experimental, more conceptual for him, because he had never had that experience as a producer.

“I delivered what he said he wanted, and I think because of his inexperience with this type of theater he didn’t understand what we were doing.”

Arabian will be staging three one-acts in March for the Taper’s ‘50s-’60s Rep: Pinter’s “A Slight Ache,” Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape” and Albee’s “The Sandbox.”

Meanwhile, “Dueling Divas,” an evening of song starring Amanda McBroom and Mara Getz as a benefit for the Matrix, will take place there Monday, 8 p.m. Tax-deductible tickets are $75-$125.

NOT YET A NON-THEATER: When Tom Stagen of Stagen Realty and Management Inc., owner of the Wilshire Theatre, decided he wanted the Nederlander Organization out of there and his firm out of the 34-year lease it had with the Nederlanders, he didn’t count on having to pay for it.

Unhappy with the sporadic bookings at the 1,988-seat house on Wilshire Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard, he sued the Nederlanders in 1986 for breach-of-lease. But in an out-of-court settlement earlier this year, it was Stagen who ended up having to buy his way out. What price freedom? $1 million. The deadline: September. Stagen asked for an extension through Oct. 30 to buy time to drum up the cash.

However, Oct. 30 came and went “and we’re still in possession of the theater,” said Nederlander vice president Stan Seiden.

“Stagen told Jimmy (Nederlander) he didn’t have the money at this time, so we find ourselves starting from ground zero.”

“It’s correct,” Stagen confirmed. “We’re a bit behind schedule. We haven’t consummated the deal.”

Nor does he know when the deal might be consummated. “I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

Nederlander attorney Neil Papiano explained the legal ramifications: “It means (Stagen) has forfeited his earnest money ($25,000) and we’ve been damaged in our ability to book the theater, since we assumed he was taking it over.

“I expect,” he added, “that we will take some legal action.”

It’s not over till it’s over. . . .

DISCOVERY SERIES III: The Pasadena Playhouse’s Monday-night Discovery Series enters its third year Monday at 8 with a reading of “The Return of Jeeves,” a P. G. Wodehouse novel adapted by Jim Piddock. Piddock, Kate Burton, Clive Revill, Dana Ivey and Alan Mandell (as Jeeves) constitute the cast.

Playhouse artistic director Susan Dietz has found this a productive source of new plays, personally and in general. Vince McKewin’s “Ad Wars,” read last spring, she said, will be part of the Playhouse’s next Mainstage season. Jim Brochu’s “The Lucky O’Learys,” read in June, is becoming a feature film.