The End of an Education: Moliere’s ‘School For Wives’ Closes Monday in Wellfleet

Eric here:

I’ve been pondering the question of whether this production of “School For Wives” is my favorite theatre piece I’ve ever been involved with.

In the production of “Cinderella” at my high school in Brookings South Dakota, I played the Prince, and went through the audience, trying the slipper on the little girls’ feet. The wicked stepsisters were a pair of totally brilliant comic actors, Mara Ruane and Katie Melby, who nearly made me laugh when I had to try the slipper on their feet (Mara once had a piece of used chewing gum stuck between her toes…) There was a lovely moment, put together by my beloved HS english teacher and drama director, Bette Gerberding (better known as Gerb), when ballet dancers became the horses and took Cinderella to the party; and of course, I got to kiss Cinderella, who was played by a Laura Binkley, who I had a big crush on at the time.

In acting school I had a number of incredible experiences with my class, the BFA UMN of 2005; which includes such SOTC notables as my co-founder Elliot Eustis (SOTC 05, 06,07: Arnolphe in SFW, Dick in The Parade, director of AYLI and Midsummer), Will Sturdivant (SOTC 2006: Juliet and Orlando in R&J and AYLI, respectively), Megan Bartle (SOTC 06: originated role of Wanda in premiere production of “The Parade”– our first and only Equity actor, so far), Kelsey Nash (SOTC 05: Malvolio and Bottom in Twelfth Night and Midsummer), Adam Yazbeck (SOTC 05: Olivia and Puck in Twelfth Night and Midsummer)… I’m endlessly proud to be numbered among that group of actors and brilliant theatre artists.

My point! Yes, our sophomore production (when we were 19 and 20) of ‘Our Town,’ directed by our brand new, shocking acting teacher, Kenny Mitchell. It was unusually connected and committed, and really got to the rather radical root of the play, which is not sentimental, but truly eye-opening about mortality and its relationship with life. I played Mr. Webb, Emily’s father (and editor of the Grover’s Corners newspaper), and I also wrote the melancholy music for the piece, and we were so proud of it and moved by our own powers that fall of 2002.

And our debut production with SOTC, my first proper directing job: ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will.’ (I had “directed” some plays in Brookings, but I was always playing large parts as well— which really means, there was no director.) Something about that production, our unique transformation of the Schoolhouse, the birth of the cross-gender idea SOTC style, the enthusiastic and kind audiences, the first SOTC ensemble bursting onto the scene…. was really wonderful, and I hold it dear to my heart.

But ‘School For Wives’ rivals it. I’m so proud of Elliot, in particular, and of the whole ensemble and their creativity as well, that I can hardly stand it. It was truly a group creation, a boon to work with not one but two brilliant writers (Moliere and the translator, Richard Wilbur), and a wonderful rehearsal process, filled with constant innovation. There are only two more shows, tonight and tomorrow, but, with luck and perseverence, I’d like to take this production home to Minneapolis….

More soon as the summer ends, and we can look at the details of our exciting growth this season.

A special visitor…

Last night’s performance of SCHOOL FOR WIVES was incredible. We set a new ticket sales record for the Julie Harris Stage!

Also, the legendary and incredibly talented Julie Harris herself came to see the show– and stayed for the talk back afterwards!

Here’s a run down of her fierceness……

Tony 1952 for I Am a Camera
Tony 1956 for The Lark
Tony 1969 for Forty Carats
Tony 1973 for The Last of Mrs. Lincoln
Tony 1977 for The Belle of Amherst
Tony 2002 for Lifetime Achievement Award
Emmy 1959 for Hallmark Hall of Fame “Little Moon of Alban”
Emmy 1962 for Victoria Regina
Emmy 2000 for Not for Ourselves Alone (voiceover)
National Medal of Arts 1994
Kennedy Center Honor 2005

Thanks Ms. Harris for your support!!

Review of “School for Wives” – Barnstable Patriot

 

Non-traditional WHAT takes Moliere to School

Shakespeare on the Cape troupe features emerging stars

By Heather Wysocki
news@barnstablepatriot.com

Traditionally, arranged marriages and women lacking in worldly knowledge are commonplace on stage.

Traditionally, Moliere comedies feature corsets and bonnets, powdered wigs and elaborate words.

Traditionally, a play’s heroine wouldn’t be played by a man.

But Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre doesn’t concern itself with the traditional, mundane or expected aspects of theater.

Instead, its avant-garde approach to the stage leaves a little to the imagination in the way of scenery (think boxes and drapes rather than balconies and dramatic entryways) but a clear view of WHAT’s main focus: the acting.

In its most recent presentation of a classic, French playwright Moliere’s School For Wives, WHAT’s modern take on things is a much more refreshing way to see the show.

As the first guest production on the new Julie Harris Stage, Wives’ Shakespeare on the Cape group does a great job of bringing a dusty 18th century production very far into the 21st century.

The group shuns traditions, choosing instead to have women play men (in a variety of roles) and men play women (Ben Griessmeyer as the play’s young innocent turned scheming lover Agnés). Everyone plays their roles perfectly and with an experience that belies the troupe’s collective youth.

Wives focuses on Arnolphe, a rich French landowner whose only wish is an innocent (read: naïve, unlearned and a little simple) wife to spend the rest of his days with. To accomplish this, he borrows a peasant woman’s daughter, sends her to a convent and is now looking forward, some years later, to marrying the girl.

Though Agnés is indeed all the things Arnolphe wished, her innocence leads her to fall in love with the town’s resident eligible bachelor, the somewhat geeky but extremely endearing Horace (Jack Matheson).

After listening to Horace’s lavish declarations of love and Agnés’ slightly silly version of the same, Arnolphe decides to marry Agnés anyway and deal with the young couples’ misery by splitting them apart forever. Of course, in good comedic fashion, he loses, and the results are hilarious.

Though not much can be said for the scenery, as it consists of only a few well-placed boxes, or the costumes (a simple but elegant collection of flowing white dresses and shirts with the occasional well-placed color) the group more than makes up for it with the witty turns they take onstage.

In a star-making performance as the scheming aristocrat Arnolphe, Elliot Eustis could carry the play alone, and indeed does exactly that during his many soliloquies and asides. His expressions convey exactly what the character is feeling, and his sulking and skulking add even more to his portrayal.

Eustis takes the old fool of Moliere’s original from blundering and antiquated to bitter and vengeful in the time it takes him to walk across the stage. His ups and downs are what keep the play going.

As his convent-raised ward Agnés, Griessmeyer is hilarious. In a nightgown, garish makeup and yarn pigtails he primly romps across the stage, engages in sobbing fits and spontaneously bursts into song – in soprano.

If one glances down, say to staunch their almost continuous laughter, it would be easy to mistake Griessmeyer’s voice for someone of the role’s traditional sex – and in this case, it’s a compliment.

As Horace, starry-eyed suitor, Matheson is good. Though his character’s presence isn’t as large as others, his acting is absolutely on par with theirs.

Other troupe members, including Arnolphe’s kooky maid and butler (Elizabeth Stahlmann and Grant Heuke) and Arnolphe’s comrade and conscience Chrysalde (Amanda C. Fuller, in another great casting), tie the play’s somewhat disparate scenes together with wit and charm.

In a much smaller part, Whitney F. Hudson as Horace’s father is absolutely brilliant. Her drink-swilling, word-jumbling ways, though only a part of the play for about ten minutes, stand out as the funniest ten minutes in a delightfully kooky and humorous two hours.

Apart, Shakespeare on the Cape’s young actors are great. Together they’re even better. Their communication onstage, their choice of casting and the little extras they add to the show (sound effects, sporadic dancing, etc.) flow flawlessly.

If you’re looking for a traditional take on an extremely traditional (but always funny) play, or want an easy evening of just-so theater, don’t bother with WHAT’s School for Wives, a work neither traditional nor just-so.

But if you’re looking for a modern, far-reaching and still-relevant take on the classic comedy, WHAT’s got what you need. The superb cast will have you thinking and laughing. More than that, though, they’ll have you coming back for more.

Moliere’s School for Wives shows Sundays and Mondays at 8:15 p.m. through Aug. 27 on Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater’s Julie Harris Stage, 2357 Route 6 in Wellfleet. Tickets ($29) are available at http://www.what.org or 508-349-WHAT.

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Publication Date: 08/10/07

“School for Wives” a Lesson in Comedy

 

 

‘School for Wives’ a lesson in comedy

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By DEBBIE FORMAN

STAFF WRITER

August 14, 2007 6:00 AM

WELLFLEET — Shakespeare on the Cape takes on Molière with an esprit de corps and mastery of style and gesture that is a grand tribute to the French playwright.

“The School for Wives” was first staged in 1662 and was an immediate success. No wonder. And wondrous is the production this Shakespeare company has put together. Imaginative and full of broad gestures and big grimaces, it is a zany performance with the actors’ frantic antics speeding you from one laugh to the next.

The Shakespeare troupe has moved several miles south from its usual venue in Provincetown to take up residence Sundays and Mondays this month at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater’s Julie Harris Stage.

The play opens with the actors, dressed in white, scurrying around spouting a French gibberish while they set the scene with an arrangement of large boxes and door and window frames, in front of a rough-hewn cloth backdrop. The troupe knows how to make the most of the simplest materials. The actors add to their white outfits bits of color — a teal-blue hat and slippers, a gray top hat, a burgundy vest and more — which they pull out of one of the boxes. These young thespians have been well-schooled at the Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program at the University of Minnesota. They let loose with the most creative cavorting, extravagantly nodding at the traditions of farce and commedia dell’arte that so influenced Molière.

“The School for Wives” is a primer for a docile and obedient wife, with Arnolphe trying his best to protect himself from cuckoldry by marrying his ward, whom he raised as an innocent, trusting her to the careful considerations of a convent.

Critical of the husbands in town, whose wily wives manage scandalous love affairs, he is determined to keep his prospective wife faithful through her naiveté. But even this simple girl has instincts for love, and they are not directed toward Arnolphe, but rather the youthful, amorous Horace, son of a friend of Arnolphe’s.

The plot becomes complicated as Arnolphe tries to prevent Horace’s advances toward Agnés. It is a riot of high comedy, with the seven actors larking about and mugging through it all.

Elliot Eustis is the sanctimonious Arnolphe, who is willing to just about imprison Agnés to win her love. Eustis plays his emotions from doleful to wild-eyed anger. He tries his utmost to cajole the poor girl into loving him, but following what the nuns have taught her and what Arnolphe himself expects, she is truthful about her lack of feelings for him and her passion for Horace.

Ben Griessmeyer is marvelous as Agnés. The Shakespeare company loves to do cross-gender casting, and on occasion it hasn’t worked well, but this time it all jells beautifully. Griessmeyer throws himself into the role with over-the-top gestures. His coquettish glances and earnest play at innocence make a mockery of Arnolphe. He knits with a clattering of drumsticks, flirtingly tosses his long wig and recalcitrantly rejects Arnolphe as he makes all kinds of bawdy body movements toward Horace.

As Horace, Jack Matheson is a master of comic gestures as he scampers about the stage, leaping from the various heights of the boxes and falling down and kicking his legs in the air as he takes Arnolphe into his confidence, not knowing he is the repressive guardian and his rival.

As Arnolphe’s disobedient servants, Georgette and Alain, Elizabeth Stahlmann and Grant Heuke take their clowning to great heights. They dart across the stage making as much trouble as they can. They smoke crayons and use French breads as clubs. Stahlmann’s expressive face alone makes you laugh, even when she doesn’t utter a word.

Amanda C. Fuller is fine as Arnolphe’s wise friend Chrysalde, who warns him that his self-righteousness will one day be his comeuppance.

Whitney F. Hudson as Oronte, Horace’s father, arrives at the end of the play in a drunken stupor holding a giant martini, olives and all. You just have to laugh.

The actors, even when they’re not in a scene, are onstage sitting on benches on either side of the action. They are a kind of Greek chorus, providing sound effects and posturing even from the sidelines.

On Stage

What: “The School for Wives”

• Written by: Molière
• Adapted and directed by: Eric Powell Holm
• Presented by: Shakespeare on the Cape and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater
• When: 8:15 p.m. Sundays and Mondays through Aug. 27
• Where: Julie Harris Stage, 2357 Route 6, Wellfleet
• Tickets: $29 and $14.50
• Box office: 508-349-9428 or http://www.what.org

“Moliere’s ‘School’ is anything but dull scholastics”

(Pictured from L to R: Ben Griessmeyer, Jack Matheson, Elliot Eustis, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Grant Heuke.)

Provincetown Banner

August 2, 2007

By Melora B. North

What fun. “School for Wives,” now on stage at the Julie Harris Stage at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, is a charming rendition of Moliere’s “L’Ecole des Femmes.” Translated from French into English couplets by former Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur, this silly and endearing story is performed by members of Shakespeare on the Cape (SOTC), all of whom are alumni of the Guthrie Theater/University of Minnesota acting program, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Directed and adapted by Eric Powell Holm, there are witty and updated references that keep the dialogue flowing in an easy river that just gains momentum as the evening goes on.

Designed by R. Thomas Burgess, the set is a simple one. Comprised of several boxes that serve as platforms for the never-ending antics of the seven-person troupe, it is more than adequate, for the ensemble is pure entertainment in itself. With Carol Sherry’s costumes that are also simple and understated, it is clear that Powell Holm was banking on his actors to be center stage, period. And the director was right.

Arnolphe (Elliot Eustis, co-founder of SOTC with Powell Holm), plays a rich, 42-year-old man who has decided it is time to marry the young maiden, Agnes (Ben Griessmeyer in quasi drag), whom he has kept sequestered in a private school to guarantee her innocence until he decided it is time for her to wed him. Much to his chagrin, he discovers his angel is in love with Horace (Jack Matheson), who has deemed that Arnolphe is his best friend. Unbeknownst to Horace, Arnolphe has assumed another name and it is his alter ego that Agnes refers to as her benefactor and the man she will be marrying. Because of Horace’s ignorance he confides his love for Agnes to Arnolphe and sets the wheels of deception into further motion.

Arnolphe is devastated by the news. His dream shattered, he sets about trying to right what he perceives as a wrong. Enlisting the aid of the two servants who were supposed to have been protecting his Agnes, Alain (Grant Heuke) and Georgette (Elizabeth Stahlmann), he convinces Agnes to try to kill Horace with a brick, while the servants stand sentry to ensure the deed is done. It is here that the real fun begins and all plans run amok.

In the meantime, Horace’s father Oronte, a drunken gentry man (Whitney F. Hudson, in men’s clothing and fat padding), shows up while Arnolphe is being counseled on the pros and cons of marriage by his pal Chrysalde (Amanda C. Fuller in manly attire). It is at this juncture that the laughs really roll and the fun culminates in a surprise ending.

The roles are beautifully cast. As Arnolphe, Eustis nails the part, but as Agnes, Griessmeyer steals a lot of the scenes. His facial expressions, comfort in the cross-dressing role and obvious pleasure of being on stage are a contagious bug that delights the audience. In short, this is an enjoyable romp appropriate for all ages and sure to charm any theatergoer.

“School for Wives” plays at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater Julie Harris Stage on Route 6, Wellfleet at 8:15 p.m. Sundays and Mondays through Aug. 27. For tickets call (508) 349-WHAT.

Love a “Parade”

 

By Rebecca M. Alvin

GateHouse News Service

Thu Jul 26, 2007, 02:01 PM EDT

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Orleans – By In 1940, a 29-year-old Tennessee Williams wrote “The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer.” More than 20 years later, the playwright revised and published it, but it was only last year that the play had its world premiere, right here in Provincetown. Shakespeare on the Cape, the first company to perform it, has now brought back this one-act tale of unrequited love. Despite its short length (roughly 45 minutes), “The Parade” is a striking piece.
The lead is a young playwright named Don (Ben Griessmeyer), a clear stand-in for Williams himself. The object of his affections is Dick (Elliot Eustis), a young, straight dancer who is going with Wanda (Elizabeth Stahlmann). Meanwhile, Don’s close friend Miriam (Whitney Hudson) finds herself in love with him, despite his open homosexuality. Although this is essentially the plot, there is more to it, as suggested by its title. “The Parade” is about a certain period in one’s life when the summer is about to end, when real life sets in and fantasies subside.
Eustis is delightful as the dopey Dick, who fancies himself a highly talented dancer and choreographer, but really appears to be a narcissistic dolt. We’ve all met this guy – the one who is truly fascinated with himself and gets away with it because of his good looks. Griessmeyer is charming, connecting with Don’s youthful self-obsessiveness, as well as his intelligence and authentic desires.
It is interesting to see a play by Williams that affirms the author’s homosexuality. So many of Williams’ finest plays work as they do not in spite of his closeted sexuality, but because of it. Here, we see another layer to Williams. “The Parade” is not a play borne of Williams’ struggle to express himself without alienating the largely homophobic audiences of his time. Instead, it is a play borne of a young man’s struggles to accept the pace of real life, the unfairness of it, and the blessing and curse of having talent and potential.
Shakespeare on the Cape departs here from its usual focus on the works of the bard, showing that it can do other styles of theater. “The Parade” may be short, but it doesn’t need more than it has. It is an elegantly constructed slice of life.
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“Much Ado” a Must-See

By Rebecca M. Alvin

GateHouse News Service

Thu Jul 26, 2007, 02:07 PM EDT

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Orleans – It may be more than 400 years old, but Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is still a crowd-pleaser. The bard’s comedy lends itself to broad performances, and Shakespeare on the Cape takes this cue in its current production at the Provincetown Theater, adapted and directed by Elisa Carlson. Aside from the hilariously over-the-top portrayals of some secondary characters, there are a number of more subtle, nuanced performances.
The story of “Much Ado” centers on the pending wedding of Claudio (Elliot Eustis) and Hero (Elizabeth Stahlmann). Amid the preparations, Claudio and Don Pedro’s (Eric Powell Holm) friend Benedick (Jack Matheson) and Hero’s cousin Beatrice (Whitney Hudson), clearly in love with one another, engage in verbal attacks on one another to hide their feelings. Knowing this, their friends conspire to bring the two together by manipulating each to think the other is more in love. At the same time, another more sinister plot evolves when Don Pedro’s brother Don John (Ben Griessmeyer) hatches a scheme to prevent the marriage of Claudio to Hero by planting a disturbing rumor about the latter’s faithfulness.
One of the challenges with a play of this age is to make it relatable to a contemporary audience without changing the original language. Whitney Hudson is particularly adept at solving this challenge in her portrayal of the spirited Beatrice. Her delivery is so natural that rather than having to change the text to fit our modern ears, it actually transforms us so that we find the text as up-to-date as any new play.
Hudson is not alone in her clear understanding of her role. Holm also turns in a very natural performance as Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, as do Matheson as Benedick, Eustis as Claudio, and Griessmeyer as Don John. Amanda Fuller, playing Hero’s mother Leonata, also demonstrates considerable skill in a role that calls for a wide range of emotion. Stahlmann is also very good in the smaller role as Hero and Tessa K. Bry adds to the overall production in her role as Balthasar, strumming her guitar quietly throughout and treating us to her lovely voice on occasion.
Hudson and Griessmeyer also portray the local police in town, Dogberry and Verges, respectively. Here, any subtlety they achieve in their main roles is cast aside in favor of broad comic interpretations of the two characters. Hudson adds a nice touch, speaking her lines with a Midwestern accent, and both generate a lot of laughs when they interact with the audience directly.
“Much Ado About Nothing” is a wonderfully entertaining play and in the hands of Shakespeare on the Cape, it is bound to be wildly popular with audiences of all stripes.