MISALLIANCE AT THE ODYSSEY
54A review by Penny Orloff
Almost exactly one hundred years after its first production, George Bernard Shaw’s frothy “Misalliance” is entertaining theatre arts patrons at the Odyssey Theatre’s mainstage venue in West Los Angeles.
Despite its venerable age, “Misalliance” is a thoroughly modern play. Shaw was decades ahead of his time in his portrayal of the Ideal Woman as a spirited, self-directed, fully realized human being, independent of the good opinion of the society in which she lived.
Hypatia Tarleton, the daughter of a nouveau riche underwear manufacturer, is betrothed to Bentley Summerhays, the son of an aristocratic family who made their money the old-fashioned way: through inheritance. Educated and brought up with all the advantages except blue blood, Hypatia is restless and frustrated by the dictates of an upper class code of behavior and a Victorian morality. She adheres to her carefully-coached deportment, but longs for adventure.
Adventure literally drops out of the sky, when a small aircraft crash-lands on the Tarleton garden conservatory as the cliffhanger ending of Act I. The story takes flight when a daredevil pilot, Joe Percival, and a Polish circus acrobat/aviatrix, Lina Szczepanowska, climb off the roof and into the second act. Barely seven years after the Wright Brothers made their first manned flight at Kitty Hawk, early audiences were thrilled with this twist of plot.
The unexpected presence of Joe and Lina stirs the staid lives of the Tarletons and Summerhays into a frantic stew. By the end of the afternoon there are eight marriage proposals, and Hypatia’s engagement to Bentley – obviously a misalliance - is off.
Rosalind Productions, under Executive Director Abigail Rose Solomon, brings the play in as an Odyssey guest production. Elina de Santos directs with a keen eye and keener ear. Though Shaw can seem long-winded, under De Santos's glib direction, and with the assistance of dialogue coach Jeffrey Phillips, the dialogue trips liltingly off the tongues of this cast, who keep the pace careening madly from subplot to subplot.
The century-old language sounds remarkably modern. For example, when Tarleton makes his case that aging women have every right to cosmetically remove years from their appearance, he sounds very like a late-night infommercial by a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. Too, when Lina expounds on her libertine lifestyle, she could easily be quoting an article from Cosmo or Vogue.
Shaw's original title of Misalliance was "Just Exactly Nothing" – to suggest his opinion of the drivel with which the upper classes and social climbers were perpetually occupied. In fact, much of the action revolves around almost exactly nothing: the pursuit of Hypatia by various men, and the strange effect that Lina seems to have on guests and family members. In the Rosalind Productions incarnation, it's a wacky situation comedy inhabited by Rocky and Bullwinkle characters.
The cast includes: Greg Mullavey as underwear king John Tarleton; Armin Shimerman as his aristocratic neighbor, Lord Summerhays. Orestes Arcuni as the spoiled man-brat, Bentley Summerhays; Maggie Peach as the long-suffering mother of the bride; Nick Mennell as daredevil pilot Joe; Molly Schaffer as the circus acrobat, Lina; Christopher Franciosa as John Tarleton, Jr;, and David
Clayberg as the gun-toting socialist neighbor; with producer Abigail Rose Solomon as Hypatia.
The lovely English garden conservatory set is by Stephen Gifford. Leigh Allen designed the lighting. Costumes are concocted by Dennis Ballard. All the sounds of countryside, approaching aircraft, and plane crash are from sound designer Christopher Moscatiello, and arrive on meticulous cue, courtesy of
stage manager, Henry Lide.
Misalliance runs through April 26 at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S Sepulveda Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 - (310) 477-2055. Information and tickets: www.odysseytheatre.com.
