Love Story Fails to Capture Heart
Theatre Review
By Nick Tantaro
Robert Dessaix has delicately harvested love, longing and madness from a brief secret encounter in his play, A Mad Affair.
Dessaix uses a one-hour rendezvous between sixty-something Russian writer Ivan Turgenev and a young actress on an Odessa-bound train in 1880 as a reality anchor for our fictitious journey through the hazards of love.
It is the perfect platform to explore whether it is wise to give up contentment for a burst of bliss. Love and infatuation - something that continues to plague writers and lovers alike.
So why did I feel Three River Theatre's production didn't rise to meet my expectations of the play? It's all do to with the power of love. To be fair, the actors worked hard, yet some of the performances lacked emotional truth.
Michael Edgar as the lovelorn Ivan Turgenev and mayor didn't reach deep enough to create a character experiencing the pain and ecstasy of infatuation.
John Ball, as the poor Vassily, whose only real experience of love is with a pet cat, shines occasionally but appears constricted in a part that requires greater pathos.
In less evocative roles, Jonathan Pedler as the down-to- earth Polonsky and deputy mayor holds his own as does Amanda Dawes as Pauline Viardot. Tia Landeg in the dual role Darya Gavrilovna and
Marya Savina is best when playing farce.
Standout performance goes to,. Joel de la Motte's portrayal as Boris. Is that the sound of today's youth I hear when Boris confronts Vassily with hardcore reality?
Randall Lindstrom's set design is functional. Sound and lighting are effective, although lighting was a tad off the mark at times on opening night.
Director Stan Gottschalk has attempted to create a dance of love with Dessaix's characters and temporal weaving structure, but I need more to stir my heart.
All the same, if you have ever been fascinated by the tangled web of attraction or fallen for the dream of love, A Mad Affair beckons you.
A Mad Affair can be seen at the Earl Arts Centre today and tomorrow at 8pm, and also 2pm
tomorrow.
Contact
You can send a message to us at: stan@stanspage.com
Welman Street Film Society
List of Films
|
Title |
Director |
Country |
|
1. The Last Picture Show |
Peter Bogdanovich |
USA |
|
2. In the Heat of the Night |
Norman Jewison |
USA |
|
3. Padre Padrone |
Taviani Bros. |
Italy |
|
4.Lawrence of Arabia |
David Lean |
UK/USA |
|
5. La Strada |
Federico Fellini |
Italy |
|
6. La Regle Du Jeu |
Jean Renoir |
France |
|
7. Amarcord |
Federico Fellini |
Italy |
|
8. Psycho |
Alfred Hitchcock |
USA |
|
9. The Passenger |
Michelangelo Antonioni |
Italy |
|
10. The Seven Samurai |
Akira Kurosawa |
Japan |
|
11. My Man Godfrey |
Gregory LaCava |
USA |
|
12. Room at the Top |
Jack Clayton |
UK |
|
13. Blazing Saddles |
Mel Brooks |
USA |
|
14. Wings of Desire |
Wim Wenders |
Germany/France |
|
15. Nashville |
Robert Altman |
USA |
|
16. Double Indemnity |
Billy Wilder |
USA |
|
17. The Conformist |
Bernardo Bertolucci |
Italy |
|
18. King of Hearts |
Philippe de Broca |
France |
|
19.M. Hulot’s Holiday |
Jacques Tati |
France |
|
20. Grande Illusion |
Jean Renoir |
France |
|
21.All About Eve |
Joseph Mankiewicz |
USA |
|
22.Paths of Glory |
Stanley Kubrick |
USA |
|
23.Rashomon |
Akira Kurosawa |
Japan |
|
24.The Trial |
Orson Welles |
France |
|
25.Network |
Sidney Lumet |
USA |
|
|
|
|
|
First Welman St Film Festival |
Director Theme - France |
|
|
26. Le Corbeau |
Henri-Georges Clouzot |
France |
|
27. Wages of Fear |
Henri-Georges Clouzot |
France |
|
28. Les Diaboliques |
Henri-Georges Clouzot |
France |
|
|
|
|
|
29. Eye of the Needle |
Richard Marquand |
UK |
|
30.Breathless |
Jean Luc Goddard |
France |
|
31.The Bedford Incident |
James B. Harris |
USA |
|
32.Tabu |
Miguel Gomes |
Portugal |
|
33. Through a Glass Darkly |
Ingmar Bergman |
Sweden |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Welman St Film Festival |
National Theme - Italy |
|
|
34. Journey in Italy |
Roberto Rosselini |
Italy |
|
35. Il Divo |
Paolo Sorrentino |
Italy |
|
36. Marriage Italian Style |
Vittorio de Sica |
Italy |
|
|
|
|
|
37. North By Northwest |
Alfred Hitchcock |
USA |
|
|
|
|
|
Third Welman St Film Festival |
Genre Theme- International Heist/Caper Films of the 1950s |
|
|
38. The Killing |
Stanley Kubrick |
USA |
|
39. The Lavender Hill Mob |
Charles Crichton |
UK |
|
40. Rififi |
Jules Dassin |
France |
|
41. Big Deal on Madonna Street |
Mario Monicelli |
Italy |
|
|
|
|
|
42. Death in Venice |
Luchino Visconti |
Italy |
|
43. Don't Look Now |
Nicholas Roeg |
UK/Italy |
|
44. The Roundup |
Miklos Janczo |
Hungary |
|
45. Bringing Up Baby |
Howard Hawks |
USA |
|
46. Tender Mercies |
Bruce Beresford |
USA |
|
47. Lilies of the Field |
Ralph Nelson |
USA |
|
48. A Man Escaped |
Robert Bresson |
France |
|
49. Shane |
George Stevens |
USA |
|
50. The Angels' Share |
Ken Loach |
UK |
|
51. A Touch of Evil |
Orson Welles |
USA |
|
52. Ivan's Childhood |
Andrei Tarkovsky |
Russia |
|
53. Room |
Lenny Abrahamson |
Canada |
|
54. Tokyo Story |
Yasujirō Ozu |
Japan |
|
55. Witness for the Prosecution |
Billy Wilder |
USA |
|
56. Andrei Rublev |
Andrei Tarkovsky |
Russia |
|
57. Broken Circle Breakdown |
Felix Van Groeningen |
Belgium |
|
58. Locke |
Steven Knight |
UK |
|
59. Silent Wedding |
Horatiu Malaele |
Romania |
|
60. Annie Hall |
Woody Allen |
USA |
|
61. Anatomy of a Murder |
Otto Preminger |
USA |
|
62. The Olive Tree |
Iciar Bollain |
Spain |
|
63. Places in the Heart |
Robert Benton |
USA |
|
64. Walkabout |
Nicolas Roeg | Australia |
|
65. The Hustler |
Robert Rossen | USA |
|
66. Elektra |
Michael Cacoyannis | Greece |
|
67. Gaslight |
George Cukor | USA |
|
68. The Power of the Dog |
Jane Campion | New Zealand |
|
69. Sunset Boulevard |
Billy Wilder | USA |
|
70. Burn |
Gillo Pontecorvo | Italy |
|
71. Dean Spanley |
Toa Fraser | UK/NZ |
|
72. In a Lonely Place |
Nicholas Ray | USA |
|
73. Sweet Smell of Success |
Alexander Mackendrick | USA |
|
74. Cinema Paradiso |
Giuseppe Tornatore | Italy |