Review - Theater Emory's Persuasion

John Ammerman’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, produced by Theater Emory, tells of love lost, love on hold, and love prevailing. I was able to watch production progress from first rehearsal through closing performance, thanks to my position as light board operator. I’ll tackle this paper both as audience observer and as production team member.
Anne Elliot, considered a near-spinster past 25, puts on a brave face as her father has spent their fortune toward the brink of bankruptcy. With her godmother, Lady Russell, a plan is concocted to restore their wealth while renting their estate to Admiral Croft and his wife, Sophie Wentworth-Croft. This brings Anne’s past immediately to her present, as she was once engaged to Sophie’s brother Frederick – an engagement broken thanks to the encouragement of her advisors, as he was at the time a poor sailor with no money or title. Has he forgiven her? Will he even remember her? Anne puts on a brave face while pining for her one true love which may never come to fruition.
I heard several classmates say that this play was not their cup of tea, but I’m a sucker for a romance. The play is long, but Ammerman did a fine job taking the highlights of the book and telling the story in both a beautiful and understandable way. The dance at the top of the show – directly atop Sara Culpepper’s beautiful scenic charge work in Kell-lynch Hall – immediately took the audience to the world of the early 1800s. Marianne Martin came through yet again with an amazing costume design, perfect in every way. Some of the young actresses were stunned that they had to wear corsets underneath their dresses, though the empire waist barely accentuates actual body shape. A nice touch, I thought, of the turbans worn by Lady Russell and Lady Dalrymple, which I assume are a nod to British occupation of India. Speaking of hats, the naval officers were superbly resplendent in their uniforms, complete with Napoleonic bicornes. Leslie Taylor’s lovely set allowed for a myriad of entrances and exits, and Ammerman carefully transitioned scene-to-scene with the actors becoming stage hands to move curtains and furniture. A bit of great advice I remember from one of my favorite directors, Actor’s Express co-founding artistic director Chris Coleman. He always cautioned his directing students to embrace scene changes. If they have to happen, have fun with them. Rob Turner and Teresa Findley did a lovely job with the soundtrack, complete with a gorgeous Beverly Sills aria to encapsulate the final kiss at play’s end.
Cynthia Barrett, the vocal coach, had a lot on her plate with a cast of 23 actors. Two of them young boys and two of them native speakers, granted, a good bit to handle. That still doesn’t excuse her ignorance of Kristie Denlinger as Mary Elliot. We hear her father and both sisters speak long before she does, and when she does, it’s a comical voice reminiscent of Nancy from Oliver or Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd. She might as well be Joshua Jacobs’s Peep Show barker. Kristie is a student, and I assume getting course credit for the performance. Barrett could have worked with her more and forced her to lose the commonness while keeping the comedy. Mary is a comic character, but her speech patterns just don’t match her family members, and I find it grating to my ears and inexcusable.
As far as shining stars in the cast, there are certainly many; notably, Emily Kleypas in the lead role, as Anne. I’ve not seen her in a Theater Emory show before, but have enjoyed her work in student theater, Starving Artists Productions. So great to see my friend Brian Kimmel again, playing Frederick. Brian is not only a professional actor, but an alumnus – another nice touch for the Emory student actors who might wonder if one can take a theater studies degree into the real world. Stalwart favorites Kathleen McManus and Allen Edwards must relish their deliciously worded roles, allowing Austen’s beautiful language to ring beautifully to our ears. Nice, too, that the student actors are given young roles and the professional actors the older roles. By the time you arrive in collegiate theater, you should be able to put your can of grey spray away and let the old be old, you know?
As the play moves throughout several locations in England, integral to the play are the projections and light, which set the mood for each location. The audience follows quite easily via portraits and window gobos or pastoral outdoor scenes and leafy gobos. Not only am I a sucker for romance, I’m a sucker for gobos and hope to use one or two in mini-form for my ¼” scale set. Gobos are a simple and straightforward way to help the audience know where they are. For Persuasion, window gobos remind us whether we’re at Kell-lynch Hall, Camden Place, or Lady Dalrymple’s salon.
The lights were definitely a collaboration and compromise between director and designer. It was personally interesting to witness the give-and-take during tech weekend. Timings of transitions as well as “mood” colors were hashed out and agreed upon quite amicably. Can the focus be more on center stage with less wash to the sides? Should the last moment be in a romantic pink or a wintry blue? Discuss! Elizabeth Waldman’s job wasn’t easy, thanks in good part to those aforementioned projections. How does one light the set and the actors without washing out the projections? Good question. A good amount of side light, thanks to lighting booms in the wings, was one solution.
A great thing about theater lighting is the ability to gauge levels of light. Projections are set, depending on the strength of the machine and the bulb within. Light levels can range from extremely dim to extremely bright, depending upon the need for light in the scene. In transitions, the actors need to be able to see; in scenes, the audience needs to be able to see the actors – and varying levels between. Manipulation of light on stage is also a manipulation of the audience eye. “Hey, look over here,” so to speak. Lighting helps the audience pay attention and helps guide them through the story. Waldman did a lovely job guiding the eye through scenes, into transitions, and back again to the world of Jane Austen.