The third piece indoors was the hilarious Private Lives by Noel Coward. The production featured a real-life married couple, Don Burroughs and Carol Linnea Johnson, as Elyot and Amanda. It is a credit to these actors that they managed to make the characters excessively likeable, although I felt that Mr. Burroughs acted as if he were playing a clown, a good one, in a Shakespeare comedy, instead of a gentleman in Coward. He strutted about like a silly peacock. Michael Brusasco was Victor, Katie Whetsell was Sibyl, and Lillian Castillo was the French maid. The director was Joseph Hanreddy. In all fairness I must report that the audience loved this show and it may well be the Festival favorite.
The wonderful Elizabethan stage held three superior productions. First up was As You Like It directed by David Darlow, with a terrific cast headed by the lovely and talented Melinda Parrett, who gives Rosalind a variety of colors and lights up the stage with her fine performance. Other stellar performances were by Marcella Rose Sciotta as Celia, Rick Ford as Touchstone, and Festival veteran David Ivers as Jacques. Ivers took a real chance playing much of Jacques for laughs, emphasizing his vanity and his overweening sense of self as a tragic figure. But Ivers left plenty of room for introspection and intelligent observation, as in the famous “All The World’s A Stage” speech. Director Darlow has provided some original touches without distorting the play.
The second play on the outdoor stage is the history Henry V, starring a pensive, brooding Brian Vaughn as the “Ideal King.” Vaughn lets himself grow into the king as the show progresses and it is the triumphant performance of the summer. Also very good were Roderick Peebles as Captain Fluellen, providing much-needed laughs, and the delightful Emily Trask as Princess Katherine. The production, directed by Associate Artistic Director J. R. Sullivan, is a handsome one and the battles are handled well. Except for Vaughn, however, I felt the production was, although strong, also ordinary—the curse of the history play. Henry V is full of substantial characters, but young actors have trouble filling them out.
The third and last play being performed in the Adams Theatre was a wonderful, funny, well-thought-out The Comedy Of Errors. The cast is flawless and director Kirk Boyd has done the Festival proud. The production is very very funny, not Shakespeare funny, but laugh out loud funny, without ever getting too outside the world of the play. I really admired the work of Rick Ford and Matthew Henerson as the Dromios. They do some great slapstick business. Quinn Mattfeld was Antipholus of Ephesus, but it is the remarkable work by Michael Brusasco as Antipholus of Syracuse which steals the show. His timing was impeccable and his aside looks to the audience a riot.
Article comments
1 - Sera G
Thanks for the reviews.
We attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival every year. It a highlight of the summer.
The performances are always superb. Looking forward to the '09 season.