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Despite inherent flaws, 'Belle's Stratagem' a success at APT

Lindsay Christians  —  8/21/2008 11:39 am

Ah, Restoration comedy. Bring out the masks; the schemes and intrigues. Show us the bustled skirts and blooming bosoms. Enter a world where women are either whores, wives, widows or hags, and men grasp and clutch to maintain the patriarchy.

Hannah Cowley may have been a woman writing in 1780 (incidentally, well past the heyday of true Restoration comedy) but that didn't make her a rebel. In "The Belle's Stratagem," which opened this weekend at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Cowley sticks to the formula: boy meets girl, problems ensue, with a wedding at the end.

Cowley's strategy in "Stratagem" seems to have worked -- history indicates the play was a success in several early London productions. This one has the benefit of attractive, creative costumes designed by Robert Morgan, some strong performances from the APT company and the whimsical direction of David Frank to help it along.

Two plot lines intertwine as the play plows forward for more than three hours (including one 20-minute intermission). Letitia Hardy (Colleen Madden) and Doricourt (Marcus Truschinski) have been betrothed as children but kept apart until the time of their wedding. Doricourt is less than thrilled with how his wife-elect has developed.

Miss Hardy, sensing this, decides to pretend to be an idiot; as she reasons, "It's easier to convert a sentiment into its opposite than to transform indifference into tender passion." Doricourt then pretends to be mad to avoid marrying her, Letitia's father (played vigorously by Paul Bentzen) pretends to be sick to force the issue, and on like this.

The other story involves Sir George Touchwood (really) and his new wife, Lady Frances (played a la Audrey Hepburn by Carey Cannon). Sir George, played stuffily and surprisingly sympathetically by Jonathan Smoots, is jealous of everything Frances loves. He is fearful of the "fine ladies" in the city, whom he is convinced will pollute his bride's virtue and distract her from her roles as wife and mother.

The most interesting characters are the supporting ones, notably Carrie Coon as the bitterly single Miss Ogle, Sarah Day as the coquettish widow Mrs. Caroline Racket and Daniel Frith as the disreputable Courtall, a post-Restoration rake, known today as a ladies' man. Day is clever and witty, perfectly at home in society and her large cumbersome skirts; Frith is cocky and completely unsympathetic, just as he should be.

As in this season's "Henry IV," David Daniel is excellent as Villers, a voice of cynicism and reason who is pulled into intrigues despite himself. In an effective move, he addresses several pointed speeches directly to the audience, a conceit echoed in the many asides of the other characters.

Darragh Kennan provides many comic lines as Flutter, a kinder version of George Etheredge's Sir Fopling Flutter from "The Man of Mode" (1676). (Courtall is also an Etheredge character.) With his massive bouffant hairdo, limp wrists and candy-colored clothing, Kennan's Flutter brightens the stage verbally and visually.

As the warring lovers, Truschinski and Madden are most entertaining when they're not "themselves," i.e., feigning madness or affecting awkwardness and ignorance. At first, Madden's wig ages her and she appears too old for the part, but the impression fades with later costumes and her singing is a welcome surprise.

Designer Morgan's costumes are possibly the best part of this show, featuring bold colors and beautiful embroidery among the high, stiff collars, enormous hats and bustled skirts.

Junghyun Georgia Lee's set design may remind Madison theatergoers of last season's "Permanent Collection" at the Madison Repertory Theatre. It consists largely of empty, gilded picture frames and mirrors, evoking the shallow images these characters wish to portray to the gentility.

Cowley's kind of comedy relies on wit and verbal dexterity to work, and the APT cast picks it up admirably. Though the play is long, the political mores are (understandably) quite out of date and the script could arguably use more trimming, "The Belle's Stratagem" still entertains more than 200 years after its debut.

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IF YOU GO

"The Belle's Stratagem" runs in repertory through Oct. 3 at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI. Ticket prices start at $36. For more information, visit www.playinthewoods.org or call 608-588-7401.

Lindsay Christians  —  8/21/2008 11:39 am