Centerstage




"Good Morning Juliet" - I'd Rather Sleep In
by John Hall

When I thought of the arts, I will admit that the Lehigh Valley, the region of Eastern Pennsylvania that is the home of "skew", did not immediately come to mind. While it is true that the windy corridor of Broadway and the cobblestone ways of Boston's theatre district are much more likely to house good theatre and its patrons, I have discovered that the Lehigh Valley shelters many a potential theatre-goer as well. It is unfortunate, then, that I and several hundred other audience members had to witness the disappointing production by the Muhlenberg Theatre Association of "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)".

The Muhlenberg Theatre Association is affiliated with Muhlenberg College, and with that knowledge, I tried to keep several things in focus. First, I knew beforehand that the calibre of the performance would most likely not be that of Broadway. Second, I also knew that the dialog and plot of the play might not be up to par with what I had previously reviewed. These were apparent from the beginning. However, I also knew from experience that college performances could be filled with raw energy, driving the performers to put out more than they thought they could. Such performances take themselves far less seriously than Broadway plays can afford, which often makes for an enjoyable evening. Therefore, I entered Muhlenberg College's Dorothy and Dexter Baker Center for the Arts the night of the performance, cautioning myself not to expect too much from the experience, but secretly hoping for one of those get-up-the-next-morning-and-rave performances. I'm sorry to say, but those hopes were dashed rather quickly.

The mood of the audience, when I first arrived, was rather expectant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the entire theatre was packed; not an empty seat was to be found. Whispers echoed between audience members, and the atmosphere was warm and forgiving. This crowd, I thought, has heard some good things about this play. Perhaps so, but everyone was thrown into doubt with the arrival of the first character on stage - the Chorus.

The Chorus (Eric Clavell) was intended to be a Puckish figure, slightly humorous but very wise; in other words, Shakespeare's wise fool. However, from the moment he whipped out a cigarette and started puffing like a steam train on it, I experienced the first of many letdowns. This character was not wise, nor was he truly humorous. Watching him dangle his legs from a table, whining out his lines staccato, I felt he was more tragic than comic.

The play continued stutteringly. It was interesting to note the parallels between the plot of the play and the actual performance of it. "Goodnight Desdemona" concerns itself with the search of Constance Leadbottom for the answer to the secrets of an Elizabethan manuscript written in alchemical symbols, a search which eventually leads her to a deeper search - the search for her own, true identity. Her travels lead her through two of Shakespeare's plays, "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet", where she meets her two favorite characters, Desdemona and Juliet, learning different lessons from each. One of Constance's theories concerning the manuscript is that it contains the scripts to two earlier versions of "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliets", with each play being a comedy instead of a tragedy; the presence of a wise fool alters each play's nature. However, never can she find the wise fool who will help her complete her journey, and never does the audience find a point to some of the shenanigans of the Chorus, their own fool. Perhaps if they could have found such a point, then "Goodnight", too, would have been more comedy than tragedy.

In all fairness, there were a few good moments in the play. During the second act, Constance finds herself inside the play "Romeo and Juliet". Before she knows it, she has prevented Tybalt from killing Mercutio, and she reveals to all that Romeo and Juliet are married. As a result, the rest of Shakespeare's play is completely altered. Soon, Romeo and Juliet are arguing, with Juliet planning a series of affairs, and Romeo falling for the Greek lad Constantine, who is in fact Constance. The scene of the marriage feast is priceless; by the end of it, both Juliet and Romeo have fallen for Constantine (Constance), and each are raiding the other's closets with the intent of cross-dressing. Tybalt's horror at Constantine's corruption of both Romeo and Juliet is well done and it provides a continuous gag through the second act.

Despite the few good moments, most of which were in the second act, it was apparent that many in audience were truly disappointed after all was said and done. Examining my own feelings, I discovered that only some of them were due to the failings of some of the actors. In fact, I thought several of the actors were quite good for their level of experience: Constance (Jessica Damrow), Juliet (Laurie Filippone), and Desdemona (Mahri Izzo). Although I am reminded of the scene in "Amadeus" where the Emperor tells Mozart that his opera has "too many notes", I am forced to say that the script of "Goodnight" has too many words. This is most apparent in the first scene of the first act, where Constance reads an entire thesis regarding the nature of the wise fool in Shakespeare's plays and how he turns tragedies into comedies; the scene droned on and on for around fifteen minutes, with no dialog but for the reading of this thesis. Interesting as it was from an academic standpoint, it could have been tightened up a wee bit for the sake of the audience.

Therefore, as funny as some portions of the second act were, I cannot honestly recommend "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)". Shakespeare did it right the first time.


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