Blackfriars
Repertory Theatre
presents
REVIEWS
| |
The London Merchant or, The History of George
Barnwell
The Storm Theatre and Blackfriars Repertory Theatre
at the Theatre of the Church of Notre Dame
 Reviewed
by Karl Levett
January 10, 2012
|
|
|
Photo by Michael Abrams
|
It has been left to
the enterprising Storm Theatre, in collaboration
with the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre, to at
last introduce the playwright George Lillo and
his 1731 drama "The London Merchant "to New
York. The play has been called "the first
bourgeois tragedy," for instead of presenting
the usual upper strata of English society, it
focused on the merchant class, with characters
that were immediately recognizable to a
middle-class theatergoing audience. For Lillo,
with his accent on Christian morality, this
emerging group of capitalists was just as worthy
of a fall from grace as their supposed betters.
The play gained immediate popularity and became
one of the most frequently performed plays of
the 18th century, with its newfound focal point
having considerable influence on later British
and Continental playwriting.
So why
has it lain hidden all these years? The story is
a straightforward one, being a moral treatise on
the road to ruin. As such there is little
surprise and not a great deal of dramatic
tension. Millwood (Jessica Myhr), "a lady of
pleasure," has vowed to have her revenge on men.
"Women are your universal prey," she observes.
She sets her sights on an upright, innocent
apprentice, George Barnwell (Patrick Woodall),
who lives in the London house of his merchant
master, Thorowgood (Joe Danbusky). Also in this
house is a second apprentice, Trueman (Harlan
Work), who is George's stalwart friend, and
Thorowgood's daughter, Maria (Megan Stern), who
is in love with George. We witness the respected
George drawn into the web of the lovely,
unscrupulous Millwood, who is aided in her evil
scheme by her two servants, Lucy (Michelle
Kafel) and Blunt (Spencer Aste). Soon poor
George is awash in "this world of woe."
There is
pleasure here in the formality of Lillo's
language as he creates a glowing scene of
goodness that is surprisingly convincing. But,
as ever, it is the serpent in the garden who has
the best lines. Lillo's delineation of
Millwood's character is the most compelling
aspect of the play. He makes her both
captivating and complex; at her most devious she
dissembles with a cunning grace. Though it was
clearly never Lillo's intention, she has the
makings of a feminist heroine.
Under
the astute direction of Peter Dobbins, the
well-spoken production has a pleasing
bare-boards simplicity that captures the period.
Myhr creates a young, attractive Millwood who is
deliciously cool in all circumstances, perhaps
too cool in her final damnation of men.
Innocence is difficult to convey, but Woodall
gives George a shining goodness that speaks well
for the actor's future. There's a capable
supporting cast, especially Danbusky and Work,
while Maria Kousoulos' costumes, Michael Abrams'
lighting, and David Thomas' sound design greatly
assist this cautionary tale. Any student of
dramatic history should hurry to make the
acquaintance of Millwood and George and finally
give George Lillo a welcome to New York.
Presented by the Storm Theatre and Blackfriars
Repertory Theatre at the Theatre of the Church
of Notre Dame, 405 W. 114th St., NYC. Jan. 9–28.
Fri., 7:30 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 7:30 p.m.
(Additional performance Thu., Jan. 12, 7:30
p.m.; no performance Sat., Jan. 14, 2 p.m.)
(212) 868-4444 or
www.smarttix.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
The London Merchant
By
Sandy MacDonald
• Jan 11, 2012 •
New York
Patrick Woodall and Harlan Work
in The London
Merchant
(© Michael Abrams)
Talk about navigating your slippery slopes -- that's
what's facing young mercantile apprentice George
Barnwell in George Lillo's 1731 play
The London Merchant,
being co-presented by the Storm Theatre and
Blackfriars Repertory Theatre at the Church of Notre
Dame under Peter Dobbins' straightforward direction.
Barnwell (Patrick Woodall) spends but one night
succumbing to the charms of the manipulative and
mercenary courtesan Sarah Millwood (Jessica Myhr),
and he's immediately ready to commit embezzlement --
and worse -- for another taste of paradise.
Subtlety was not a strong suit for Lillo, whose
characters -- including Barnwell's master Thorowgood
(played with impressive gravitas by Jay Danbusky)
and George's fellow apprentice, Truman (Harlan Work)
-- tend to have assigned positions along the
virtue/depravity spectrum.
But the work does have a somewhat surprisingly
modern sensibility in its creation of Millwood. In a
stirring mid-play speech, she lays the blame for her
misdeeds on the parade of men who abused her:
"Another and another spoiler came … all were alike
wicked to the utmost of their power. In pride,
contention, avarice, cruelty and revenge, the
reverend priesthood were my unerring guides."
The play could have ended there, but unfortunately
Lillo had a didactic mission to fulfill. We follow
the lovers right to the brink of the gallows, where
the unrepentant Millwood pants in terror as a duly
shriven Barnwell beams, confident of a blissful
reception on the other side.
Fortunately, the acting has much merit, especially
the work of Woodall and Myrh. If they can handle
material this abstruse and antiquated this adeptly,
just imagine what might happen once they sink their
teeth into meatier matter.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
CLICK HERE FOR REVIEWS FROM NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN
|
For more information on
Blackfriars Repertory Theatre call 646/422-0450
|
