Thursday, June 12, 2008

"'Tis Pity She's a Whore": ☼ ☼ ☼



Nobody does stairways like A.C.T. Certainly, the rooming houses in August Wilson's "Gem of the Ocean' and Phillip Kan Gotanda's "After the War" come to mind. Walt Spangler's surrealistic stairways to Heaven in the new A.C.T. production of John Ford's "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" fit admirably into the long line of on-stage carpentry extravaganzas.

As for Ford's almost 400-year-old avant-baroque morality tale: the stairways helped. With two acts encompassing more than two and a half hours of Middle-English conversation, it was good that the actors had somewhere to walk. The subject matter (incest) would certainly have been controversial at the time the play was written, but perhaps less so since the English writer set the tale in Italy where the villains are all Catholics and the evilest of all characters is the Cardinal himself (Jack Willis). It is smarmy he who, as the curtain comes down, pronounces Ford's famous last couplet:

"Of one so young, so rich in Nature's store
Who could not say: "'tis Pity she's a whore!"



Just about everyone is dead by this time and the Cardinal has appropriated all the valuables for himself. Keep in mind that John Ford was one of the leading English playwrights during the reign of Charles 1, a Protestant who married a Catholic to the dismay of the English people (and, presumably, the playwrights).

It cost Charles his head. So expect incest, duels, at least one poisoning, a lot of backstabbing and front stabbing, masks, intrigues and long speeches about lust = death. Perhaps the excellent Rene Augesen (Annabella) sums the story best, when she cries: "Love me or kill me" -- she says this as her brother kneels beside her with a sharp knife between them. Blood will flow.



RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" one star for Walt Spangler's priceless set; another for Candice Donnelly's brilliant costumes and Robert Wierzel's inventive lighting, half a star for the music (more in a moment) which helps to convey mood during scene changes; and the final half because it's such a fascinating production and it has Gregory Wallace (Bergetto) in it. He was a brilliant tax inspector last time out but he's a fine Italian scooter-riding fool as well.



About the music: a great deal is made about the performance of Bonfire Madigan Shive on cello. She is part of the scenery itself. She looks great. She sounds pretty good too, plus she can scream. One of these nights she just might eat her cello. Think Baroque Bjork. The audience loved her.



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"'Tis Pity She's a Whore"
A.C.T. Theatre
405 Geary Street, San Francisco
Tue.-Sat. through July 6
$17-$82

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