- OTHER MEDIA
|
- SF Bay Guardian May 11, 2011 (Nicole Gluckstern)
-
- Though it seems fitting that a two-and-a-half-hour long epic about
historical diva and queen Eleanor of Aquitane should debut at EXIT Theatre's
DIVAfest, Dark Porch Theatre's production of Eleanor lacks the charisma
of its muse. A confused tangle of unnecessary subplots and under-developed
characters, Eleanor tries to fit in an 800-year-old grudge match,
a thwarted celestial ascension, political chicanery, assassination, adultery,
an existential chess game, a crusade, medieval grrrl power, and the quest
for the holy grail into a single show, with decidedly mixed results. On
the one hand, Alice Moore as the titular queen is a delicious blend of
regal and calculating, and Nathan Tucker as her equally conniving consort,
Henry II, makes a surprisingly vital and robust king. The design elements
are strong, and Dark Porch Theatre's trademark live music and physical-movement
interludes are cleverly arranged. But on the downside, Eleanor also
displays what is gradually becoming another one of DPT's trademarks, an
overly convoluted script in need of major tightening in focus. Playwright/director
Margery Fairchild needs to sacrifice a good chunk of bit-player intrigue,
and rely more on the strength of her iconic queen, to move the action to
an endgame more rewarding than this version's anti-climactic exile to eternal
oblivion.
|
|