It’s no-fuss Bardery, ‘As You Like It’

The wondrous thing about Shakespearean plays is that they don’t require any fuss or feathers. If you have a solid company of actors and a discerning director, the play’s packaging is secondary.

The principles of minimalism apply in “As You Like It,” presented by Circus Theatricals at the Lex. As in past Circus productions, director Jack Stehlin opts for simplicity over folderol. Language is emphasized over technical trappings, to cogent effect.

For those who get their Shakespearean comedies mixed up, “As You Like It” is the tale of two cousins, Celia (Nickella Dee) and Rosalind (Susan Ziegler), who must flee into the forest of Arden when Celia’s usurping father, Duke Frederick (Nick Mize), banishes Rosalind on pain of death.

To guard against potential assailants, Rosalind dons men’s attire, then later engages in a mock flirtation with the noble Orlando (Daniel C. Gibbons), whom she met and fell in love with back at court. Orlando, of course, has no idea that the rustic youth tutoring him in the ways of amour is actually his sworn lady love. It’s a bizarrely homoerotic undercurrent, but Ziegler and Gibbons finesse the post-Freudian implications and deliver a richly comical dalliance.

Among the solid cast, Daniel Nathan Spector is a particular pleasure as the clownish Touchstone. His hands dripping with gaudy rings, Spector re-imagines Touchstone not as a pure buffoon, but as a lecherous dandy who fancies himself a courtier. Spector also contributes the authentic-sounding ballads, performed live on stage, that punctuate the proceedings.

Kitty Rose’s set consists of a few simple blocks, which are shifted to form various seating and playing areas. Rose’s costumes, which range from latter-day Minnie Pearl ensembles to crisp business attire, set the whimsical tone, while leaving us in some doubt as to the play’s intended time frame.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“As You Like It,” the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., L.A. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 16. $15. (310) 226-6105. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

‘Going to St. Ives’

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As America discusses the extent to which it should become involved in combating a foreign despot, Lee Blessing’s “Going to St. Ives” achieves a timeliness that hardly could have been foreseen when this gripping duologue premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2000.

Now in its first L.A. production, at the Fountain Theatre, the play focuses on two women: an English eye surgeon and the mother of the cruel dictator of an unnamed Central African country. The former is treating the latter for glaucoma, but each has a special request to ask of the other.

The nature of one of those favors is so jaw-dropping that it doesn’t seem fair to reveal it in a review. However, the suspense hardly ends there, as we watch these two women become ever more entangled in one another’s lives.

The concept of two conflicting personalities learning to work together can be cliched, yet Blessing’s narrative transcends stereotypes and builds up a head of steam that stops only at the final curtain.

If a movie is ever made from this script, Hollywood’s leading ladies are likely to fight for these roles. In the meantime, the Fountain’s cast, under Simon Levy’s direction, shines.

Jacqueline Schultz, as the surgeon, begins with measured, cool courtesies but gradually reveals an inner life wrought with tension. As the play goes on, she becomes obsessed with a new mission, and Schultz’s performance expands accordingly.

Esther Scott, as the mother of a madman, begins on edge but appears to acquire a degree of serenity by the second act, only to lose her composure in a volcanic scene near the end.

These powerhouse performances are seen close-up at the Fountain, which begins a midweek production schedule with this play. It’s a formidable launch.

-- Don Shirley

“Going to St. Ives,” Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hollywood. Tuesdays--Thursdays, 8 p.m. Ends April 24. $22. (323) 663-1525. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Scandal, murder in ‘The Manor’

Beverly Hills’ historic Greystone Mansion co-stars with a plucky, hard-working Theatre 40 ensemble in “The Manor,” Kathrine Bates’ classy, entertaining soap opera based on equally melodramatic real-life events that took place within its stately walls.

“A house that was -- for all too brief a time -- a home,” in the ominous introductory words of the play’s elegant valet and narrator (John Houlton), the 47,000-square-foot Greystone was erected in 1928 as a private residence for the oil-rich Doheny family, who were shortly thereafter engulfed in scandal and murder. The estate is now maintained as a public park by the city of Beverly Hills, which made several scenic locales available for Beverly Olevin’s inventive environmental staging.

Recalling the site-specific presentation of the long-running hit “Tamara,” the audience splits into three smaller groups, which witness simultaneous events unfold in various rooms. The scenes are repeated in different order for each group, however, so return visits are not required to see the complete story.

A saga of the rich and mighty in the grand tradition of prime-time soaps such as “Dynasty” (with shades of Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights”), the two acts of “The Manor” span a decade of destiny for the fictional MacAlister clan: Charles (Darby Hinton), a self-made mining tycoon; his enigmatic wife, Marion (Bates), who harbors dark secrets; their too-good-to-be-true son and heir, Sean (Mark Bradford Hill); and his eager new bride, Abby (Nanette Hennig).

Despite being likable, socially responsible and even patriotic businessmen, the MacAlister men are terrible judges of character. Charles lets his lifelong friendship with a weak, corrupt senator (Dan Leslie) draw him into an ill-advised loan arrangement, with dire political and criminal consequences, while Sean extends puppy-like trust to Abby’s former beau (Seamus Dever), who’s now married to a scheming British dance-hall trollop (Cynthia Gravinese). In supporting roles, Michael Bonnabel and Gloria Strook register appropriate suspicion, shock and horror, while the domestic staff (Nina Borisoff and Esther Richman) assist in herding the audience from room to room.

“The Manor” capably handles the challenges inherent in its overlapping scene structure, with each episode timed to end simultaneously (though not without some filler -- the versatile Bates even provides some keyboard interludes). But then, what self-respecting melodrama would be complete without some padding and false leads? Besides, there’s plenty of stunning scenery to chew on during this unique, agreeable outing.

-- Philip Brandes

“The Manor,” Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills. Sundays, 1 p.m. Ends April 6. $25. (310) 550-4796. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.

Mysteries opened in ‘Pandora’s’ box

Blaine Teamer’s new play, “Pandora’s Trunk,” at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, is the theatrical equivalent of an oxygen bar -- a blast of pure, heady energy. Kim Fields, the former child star best known as Tootie on the hit ‘80s sitcom “The Facts of Life,” is all grown up now, with the insinuatingly sexy manner to prove it. Displaying the ease of a lifelong trooper, Fields forms the twirling center of this feel-good evening. She sells Teamer’s modest play like a medicine show huckster. And, dazzled, we buy it.

In Teamer’s rudimentary but effective tale, Fields plays Pandora, an insatiably curious creature who, like her legendary namesake, gets into a lot of trouble by opening a trunk. In this case, the trunk contains the belongings of Pandora’s birth mother -- a mysterious figure who has assumed mythical proportions in Pandora’s mind. When Pandora dresses in the outfits she finds in the trunk, she takes on the various personae of the women she imagines could have been her mother.

No mundane archetypes need apply. Pandora’s imaginings conjure up a series of hilariously extravagant characters, from Batgirl to a fabulously wealthy pop diva -- all of whom have perfectly logical if hilariously convoluted reasons for abandoning Pandora at birth.

The truth, of course, is of a far darker stripe, and Teamer’s abrupt shift into the downbeat badly rattles the play’s chassis. However, under the brisk direction of Che’Rae Adams, Fields switches from the broadly comic to the poignant with nary a hitch. Indira Gibson, who plays Pandora’s adoptive mother, Audrey, as well as other characters, provides lively backup throughout this unabashedly broad and rousing evening.

-- F.K.F.

“Pandora’s Trunk,” Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., L.A. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 23. $15 to $20. (213) 473-0660. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

The grim visage of ‘Leatherface’

Links between media violence and police malfeasance provide the underpinnings of “Leatherface” in its U.S. premiere at Cal Rep in Long Beach. Helmut Krausser’s esoteric 1994 psychodrama, a sensation abroad, receives a determined, valiantly performed production. For many, that may suffice.

German playwright Krausser attempts commentary by playing social diatribe and sexual satire simultaneously. His premise pits an archetypal male (Chace Farguson), who is rabidly devoted to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” against his female counterpart (Tannis Hanson), who finds his fetish unsettling, to say the least. Their interaction gradually unpeels one reversal after another.

Director Thomas Blubacher goes for Bauhaus-flavored staging, with Danila Korogodsky’s white-and-brick loft setting most impressive. However, Mark Abel’s aggressive sound and Chris Kittrell’s stark lighting are erratically deployed.

More critically, Krausser’s voice doesn’t travel well, his outsized thesis unraveling in Tony Meech’s labored translation. This creates hurdles that the actors only sporadically overcome, and the gaps are telling.

Farguson’s initial bloody pantomime is gripping, and he clearly understands Krausser’s ambiguous intent, but the character’s load of explicated message would tax Laurence Olivier.

Hanson enters at full tilt, a strident banshee, relaxing into some inspired, spontaneous reactions. Jason K. Martin plays key offstage roles with admirable lack of ego.

-- David C. Nichols

*

“Leatherface,” Edison Theatre, 213 E. Broadway, Long Beach. Tuesdays-Thursdays, Sundays, 7 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m. Ends March 15. Mature audiences. $15 to $20. (562) 432-1818 or (562) 985-7000. Running time: 70 minutes.