Eugene weekly., August 06, 2015, Page 33, Image 33

T H E AT E R
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN MONARCHY
VLT casts Anne of the Thousand Days as a post-apocalyptic feminist tale of
Tudor intrigue
W
MELANIE MOSER AND SHAWN
BOOKEY IN VLT’S ANNE OF THE
THOUSAND DAYS
illiam Faulkner once suggested in an
interview that the essential ingredients of
any good drama are family, money and
murder. This might help explain our
ongoing obsession with the House of
Tudor, those ingrown English monarchs whose rule
included ample instances of greed, intrigue, betrayal and
bloody battles for the rights of primogeniture.
Very Little Theatre in its current production not only
taps our appetite for all things Tudor but ups the ante by
reinterpreting Anne of the Thousand Days as a post-
apocalyptic fable, adding a dash of Mad Max to this story
about how Anne Boleyn lost her head.
Based on the 1948 play by Maxwell Anderson, the
play transports the rule of Henry VIII (Shawn Bookey) to
the distant future, where courtiers to the king look like
renegades from Burning Man and a tatted-up Thomas
Cromwell (Blake Beardsley) could stand in for The Road
Warrior’s Lord Humungus. It’s a nice conceit, and
director Jay Hash does of fine job of splicing Armageddon
into the gilded treachery of the Renaissance.
The play opens with video footage of an imprisoned
Anne Boleyn (the excellent Melanie Moser) awaiting
execution. From here, the play darts back to the beginning
VAUDEVILLE AT
THE SHEDD
of the story: how the piggish, arrogant, oversexed Henry
tries to take Anne as a mistress; how the furiously defiant
Anne, all piss and vinegar, resist his advances, finally
demanding to be made Queen of England before she
submits; and how Henry risks papal displeasure to
divorce his wife, the never-present Catherine of Aragon.
A slew of minor characters with ulterior motives
works to complicate this tale full of religious hypocrisy,
double- and triple-crosses and, not insignificantly, the
wily maneuvering of Anne herself, who manipulates the
king and his court to her advantage until at last everything
blows up in her face. Her execution, which she views as
an expiation of her sins, arrives at once as a shock and a
fait accompli, a brutal outcome writ by the forces of fate.
Moser plays Anne as something of a feminist anti-
hero, a woman who — faced with the seemingly
indomitable force of patriarchy — plays the game until at
last the game plays her. Impressively, VLT’s production
eshews any easy assessment of Anne’s actions, casting
her not as an icon but as a complex character who, in the
end, may or may not get seduced by the temptations of
absolute power. — Rick Levin
Anne of the Thousand Days plays through Aug. 15 at the Very Little Theatre; $12-
$17, thevlt.com.
STEPHANIE HAWKINS LEFT, JIM BALLARD,
KAITLYN SAGE AND TREVOR EICHHORN IN
WHOOPEE! AT THE SHEDD
Revival of musical Whoopee! is zany
good fun
S
et in 1928 Arizona, The Shedd’s revival of
Whoopee! is populated by rootin’ tootin’ cowboys,
rich tourists and the occasional hypochondriac.
Based on the 1923 play The Nervous Wreck,
this goofball musical comedy by Gus Kahn and
Walter Donaldson was made famous by both the Ziegfield
Broadway production of 1928 and the 1930 Eddie Cantor
film.
In the vaudeville era, shows like Whoopee! cobbled
together already popular tunes with a loose plot, peppering
zany narratives with plenty of jazz standards and daffy
jokes. And it’s still a winning combination.
Peg Major directs this solid production, with staging
that’s crisp and silly and pacing that plows ahead in fifth
gear.
Musical director Robert Ashens leads a fine 11-piece
orchestra. Talented woodwinds, brass, bass and piano play
these indelible songs with confidence and verve. Alan
Phillips on banjo lends an authenticating twang, and
Merlin Showalter charms with wide-ranging sound effects
and percussions.
Anchoring the performance is Trevor Eichhorn as the
neurotic Henry Williams. Eichhorn sets the bar high with
his singing, dancing and comedic chops. Equally
impressive, Kaitlyn Sage as Henry’s nurse, Miss Custer,
sings beautifully and brings a likable exasperation to every
scene.
Stephanie Hawkins as Sally Morgan captivates with
expressive physicality and perfect comic timing. Hawkins
shines in her duet with Jim Ballard, “Out of the Dawn.”
Mark Huisenga’s set, featuring Connie Huston’s
cinematic painting, transports. Inventive props — a jalopy!
another jalopy! a canoe! — are adorable. Jamie Parker’s
costumes are detailed and plentiful, like a postcard from
the 1920s come to life.
Lively choreography by Caitlin Christopher and Jean
Nelson brings out the best in this talented ensemble. One
to watch is Rafael Batya, who at 13 is one of the strongest
movers onstage, holding his own against dancers twice his
age.
The one challenge of the 1928 script is the work with
indigenous peoples. Set in and around the pueblos of
Arizona, First Nations folks play a vital role. Fair warning:
You may wince to hear the term “red man” bandied about,
but that was the time. There have apparently been a few
tweaks to the original script but, overall, the native peoples
here are presented as infinitely more educated and
intelligent than any of the European-American interlopers.
This is not highbrow stuff. It’s the kind of vaudeville-
inspired show that sets up a whole transitional scene solely
for the dumb punch line. I won’t give any of them away
but, believe me, they’re groaners all, and hilarious. —
Rachael Carnes
Whoopee! plays 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, Aug. 7-8, and 2pm Sunday, Aug. 9,
at The Shedd; $20-$36, tickets at 434-7000 or theshedd.org.
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