PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES GETS A TOP NOTCH PRODUCTION BY ROSS VALLEY PLAYERS

PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Jessica Holt. Ross Valley Players, at the Barn Theatre, Marin Art and Garden Center, Ross. 415/456-9555, or www.rossvalleyplayers.com. Through Aug. 16, 2009.

PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES GETS A TOP NOTCH PRODUCTION BY ROSS VALLEY PLAYERS

Alan Ayckbourn is a superb playwright and his trilogy The Norman Conquests is enjoying a successful return on Broadway. It is surprising that his most recent play Private Fears in Public Places has not been produced by one of the major Bay Area theatres. In 2006, it was made into a French film titled Cœurs (Hearts), directed by Alain Resnais. Coeurs is an appropriate sub-title since the intertwined stories involve various aspects of affairs of the heart. Fortunately for us the Ross Valley Players (RVP) obtained the rights for its West Coast premiere, gathered a strong cast who put their hearts into the acting giving a knockout ensemble performance that should not be missed.

Ayckbourn refers to Private Fears in Public Places as a stage play for film dovetailing six characters into over 50 scenes with a running time of about 100 minutes without intermission. You will become absorbed in the characters and their clever intricate stage movements of the well-matched cast as time flies, reaffirming Bergson’s concept of relative time. Ayckbourn’s dialog invests each character with an individual basic shell and scene by scene fills in their qualities/foibles/weaknesses to make each of them complete as they physically and emotionally connect with at least one other character.

With the six characters there is a seventh off-stage voice. It starts with unmarried estate agent Stewart (Keith Jefferds) showing self-assured business woman Nicola (Dana Zook) a flat intended to please her live-in fiancé Dan (Patrick Barresi) an unemployed ex-army officer. Dan is a habitué of a hotel bar where Ambroise (Jim Fye) is an unmarried, older bar tender caring for an invalid father Arthur (Hugh Campion) an irascible off-stage voice. Stewart’s work colleague Charlotte (Linnea George) takes part time care for Arthur and is a born again Christian with questionable past. Imogen (Lauren Rosi), a love seeking young woman, lives with her brother Stewart.

By the end of the play, Nicola and Dan have split up and Dan, after moving into a hotel successfully hooks up on a blind date with Imogen. Stewart inadvertently discovers Charlotte’s shady past but is rebuffed in his feeble attempt to “bond” with her. Charlotte’s “professional” care for Arthur is the type of hook we expect from Ayckbourn and it is a, no, the highlight of humor not to be revealed here. Although he has given almost equal weight to all of his characters, Ambrose the bar tender appears to be Ayckbourn’s favorite as he connects with Dan, Charlotte and Imogen.

The set, designed by Ron Krempetz is ingenious consisting of five areas from stage right to left: the hotel bar, a sofa for Stewart and Imogen’s home, a kitchen table for Ambrose’s flat, a single circular table for Imogen’s blind date and a desk and chair for the estate agency office. This arrangement under Jessica Holt’s tight direction allows the cast to move with alacrity never allowing the action to sag. The ensemble cast shines individually but their greatest attribute is their perfect timing and integration with each other. It may not be fair to the other cast members who give great support to the role, but Jim Fye (bartender Ambrose), is a notch above all.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of TheatreWorldInternetMagazine.com