UVic production of The Hot L Baltimore is have to-see theatre
Nicely directed by UVic school member Peter McGuire, and showcasing oodles of expertise onstage, The Scorching L Baltimore is a superior theatre department manufacturing not to be missed.
Sometimes in theatre anything by some means comes together: the acting, the direction, the established, the costumes. These rare situations can be invigorating and are usually thrilling.
And so it is with the University of Victoria’s amazing revival of Lanford Wilson’s The Warm L Baltimore, now participating in at the Phoenix Theatre. Properly directed by faculty member Peter McGuire, this is a excellent theatre division output not to be missed.
Some may well recall Wilson for his Pulitzer-Prize successful participate in Talley’s Folly (1980). The Warm L Baltimore was a 1973 breakthrough success for the American playwright. It’s established in a once-grand lodge, now a flophouse, on the verge of demolition. The action transpires in a disintegrating foyer in which a motley gang of outcasts (intercourse personnel, johns, hustlers, other assorted misfits) gossip, complain, trade insults and, after in a when, take care of a person yet another like spouse and children.
Wilson’s comedy-drama delves into a small-hire netherworld in the tradition of John Patrick Shanley, Sam Shepard — with perhaps a rosy dollop of Tennessee Williams nostalgia stirred in. The playwright has authentic empathy and respect for his figures a trio of intercourse staff, for instance, are portrayed affectionately and without judgement.
Although Wilson presents the gritty true deal there’s a style of sentimentality at do the job too — like a hot cup of Hieronymous Bosch sweetened with a teaspoon of honey.
The Warm L Baltimore is a complicated option for a college student generation. For 1 detail, with 15 people, it’s a significant ensemble forged — generally a challenge. There is precious little in the way of plot. And Wilson favours over-lapping dialogue, which is a tough to do well (the show’s often like a noisy get together wherever absolutely everyone talks loudly over 1 one more).
In brief, it is most likely hard terrain to navigate. Nevertheless a proficient university student cast pulled it off Thursday night time with an assured aplomb any qualified troupe may envy.
Apart from reliable performing, scrupulous notice to element elevates The Incredibly hot L Baltimore into the have to-see category. For case in point, seem designer Jack Storwick unquestionably knows his classic pop audio. A crackly station gives Melanie’s Manufacturer New Critical and Edison Lighthouse’s Like Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes). Nevertheless we’re also addressed to lesser-regarded tunes these as Bruce Johnston’s bittersweet Disney Women (1957), which completely mirrors the play’s tone of nostalgia and regret.
The set and costumes are exceptional. Interval outfits and hairstyles are accurate with out remaining overdone. Within The Very hot L Baltimore’s extensive lobby we see decaying vestiges of period glamour: dilapidated leather-based sofas, a tatty Persian rug, deco-type terrazzo flooring, peeling wallpaper and a chandelier with a dangling a crepe-paper streamer from some overlooked celebration. Just one smaller, great touch is the neon signal for “Hotel Baltimore” which loses its very first “e” as a coach rumbles by, producing perception of the play’s title.
There’s oodles of expertise on phase. Samantha Frew captured the hope and vitality of “Girl,” a scorching-panted intercourse employee who floats aimlessly by everyday living like a dandelion seed-head. Sophie Taylor is sturdy as April, an older, savvier road-walker who lobs comedian utterances these types of as: “I’m gonna go to mattress just before I get bitter.”
Aiden Finn offered a lynch-pin overall performance as a cantankerous outdated gentleman. Mr. Morse, who angrily rips up checkerboards and hides in a broom closet, is the closest detail to a inventory comic character in the enjoy. Finn unquestionably certain as a geezer 70 decades his senior complete with a gravelly voice and arthritic gait — an entertaining turn that prevented caricature.
Beneath McGuire’s route each individual actor will make his or her character an personal with unique character. Notables involved Annalyn Kind as road-smart hustler Jackie, and Carter Lapham participating in Paul Granger III, the son of a rich loved ones exploring for a very long-shed grandfather. Helga Woolsey is effectively forged as an aged clairvoyant but needed to job far more.
As in so numerous Chekhov plays, these people are searching for something to finish their life, no matter whether it be hope and contentment, a lacking household member or a bona fide residence of their possess. Time is jogging out — a clock on the wall reminds us of that, and we know the tenants have to vacate in just a month.
The Resort Baltimore tenants are societal cast-offs, still Wilson reminds us they are also human beings with the exact hopes and wishes as anybody else. He indicates, in an admirably big-hearted fashion, that a accurate sense of household can exist just as nicely in a slum as in a middle-class suburb.
