'TIS A PITY SHE'S A WHORE

‘TIS A PITY SHE’S A WHORE by John Ford; directed by Carey Perloff; Music composed and performed by Bonfire Madigan Shive. American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), 415 Geary Street, San Francisco. 415.749.2228, or www.act-sf.org. June 5 – July 6, 2008.

MAGNIFICANT SCENIC DESIGN, COSTUMES & MUSIC.

It was Shakespeare who wrote, “The play’s the thing” (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2,) in a bloody play, but not as bloody as John Ford’s Jacobean drama “’Tis a Pity She’s Whore” that is being given a problematic staging under Carey Perloff’s overly inventive direction that relies on visual and aural pyrotechnics at the expense of dramatic performance by major members of the cast. During Perloff’s first year as artistic director of A.C.T. (1992), she undertook the challenge of producing John Webster’s gory Jacobean play “The Duchess of Malfi” that kept audience away for many months. To undertake a similar play would not seem wise. Considering the defections from the audience at intermission the decision does not seem wise.

Accolades for visual effects belong to Walt Spangler’s cathedral-like set with huge organ pipes dominating the back wall with an inset-recessed platform to support Bonfire Madigan Shive and her cello playing the haunting/eerie/spine-chilling music she wrote specifically for this show. The costumes by Candice Donnelly are superb and Robert Wierzel’s lighting is eye-popping. Perloff, for inexplicable reasons, has the cast marching up and down three soaring metal staircases to emote from jutting platforms high above the stage as the bodies pile up. These platforms are only partially visible to the audience on the left side of the theater.

Set in Parma, Italy, John Ford traces the destructive consequences of incest between siblings Giovanni (Michael Hayden) and Annabella (René Augesen) in an atmosphere of social injustice where women are treated like chattel. Add to this a corrupt church with greedy machinations matched by citizens with privilege and you have an understanding of the gruesome incidents that unfold. His well-meaning confessor Friar Bonaventure (Steven Anthony Jones) cannot assuage Giovanni’s obsessive, erotic nature. The suitors for Annabella’s hand resort to devious methods including the murder of rivals.

Hayden and Augesen give creditable performances but are overshadowed by Sharon Lockwood as Putana, Annabella’s tutoress, Robert Sicular as Florio, the lovers’ father, James Carpenter as Richardetto, a cuckolded husband disguised as a doctor and Jack Willis' as a corrupt Cardinal. Attempt at humor assigned to the foppish performance by Gregory Wallace, beginning with his entrance on scooter, is completely inappropriate and falls flat. Other cast members seem uncomfortable with the Ford’s language making their lines difficult to understand.
Running time 2 hours and 40 minutes with intermission.

Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine