Spektor’s music can only be described as soporific, and the lyrics reek with language that seems intentionally from another period (and I'm not talking about the lyrics taken from Bryon, Shelley, and Wordsworth themselves). It seems that the play’s creators thought that a love of period drama and interest in Mary Shelley’s life would be enough to make a solid drama. A mix of obsolete speech and placid living are a product of this focus. I’m so burnt out by this generation’s use of ironic humor that I look for sincerity in every art work I absorb. But sincerity about a subject that’s nearly 200 years old is not the answer, especially when it’s performed in a forum dedicated to creative new theater.
Villa Diodati left me wondering if classical musical theater, the kind that built Broadway, can ever return to vitality other than as tourist fodder. There’s certainly a place for that kind of theater, but in terms of being something boldly new, it seems its time has passed. It’s not a matter of time period either; Spring Awakening takes place in the 19th century too, but it has so much life, in both its music and book, that its relevance to the present age never comes into question. Villa Diodati, by contrast, seems like what Frankenstein would be if Dr. Frankenstein had never injected life into his creature.
Villa Diodati, music by Mira J. Spektor; lyrics by Colette Inez; book by Spektor and Inez. Directed by Rob Urbinati; musical direction by Thomas Carlo Bo; sets by Andis Gjoni; lights by Je Nash; costumes by Sidney Shannon; sound by David M. Lawson.
Starring Sarah Arikian, Mark Campbell, Elizabeth Cherry, Lauren Hauser, and Sal Sabella.
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