The Crownless King
Written by Chris Matthews and Nathan Allen
Directed by Nathan Allen
at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division (map)
thru Oct 20 | tickets: $20-$40 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
Read review
Crownless King, suspenseless sequel
The House Theatre presents
The Crownless King
Review by John Olson
When we last saw Casper Kent, the young farm boy destined to become King of the land created by the very imaginative folks associated with this production, he had claimed the Hammer of the Land and was poised to reunite five democracies into one kingdom. We were left at the time with the philosophical question of whether a benevolent monarchy might be preferable to democracy and the narrative question of what sort of king Casper would become. I concluded my review of that first installment of the planned trilogy (The Iron Stag King, Part 1) by noting that we’d have to wait a year (until this production) for our answers. It turns out we’ll be waiting at least another year,
Allen and Mathews initially created a world taken from all sorts of heroic adventures. The heroes and villains were as likely to look like cowboys or pirates as medieval knights (in costumes quite cleverly designed by Melissa Torchia) and the land was populated by magical foxes, birds and a great big dragon (with puppetry by Rachel Watson). These characters and creatures are mostly all back, but the writers have failed to offer us any new wonders. Instead, this second installment gives us a rather routine plot and, while there’s still a fair amount of fighting, puppetry and mood-setting stage lighting (by Lee Keenan), the majority of stage time is taken up by talking, even including an odd little digression into a discussion of the concept of intellectual property.
The new King of the Land, Casper Kent (Brandon Ruiter) is quickly faced with a challenge just after taking the throne and wedding his queen, Rienne Boilieu (Paige Collins). The people of one of the kingdoms, Hasenton, feel threatened that the new shipyard being built by the King is a sign that he plans to launch a navy that will ultimately threaten them. Their demagogic leader Davy Boone (now played by the estimable Blake Montgomery) leads them to a pre-emptive strike that decimates the kingdom’s navy. King Casper is offered the battleships of the more loyal nation of the Grass, but at a price Casper is unwilling to pay – the surrender of his ally Hollow Thom (John Henry Roberts) to Lady Olympia of the Grass (Brenda Barrie), who has a score to settle with Thom. Rather than turn on his friend, Casper decides to try diplomacy first and sails off to Havenston to seek a truce with Davy Boone. Any guesses on how well that goes? While Casper had emotional and physical journeys to take in Part One – from adolescence to adulthood, boyishness to heroism and across a great distance to the capital city of New Plymouth, he has little to do here except to be earnest – and in fact, has little stage time. We’re not left with a strong reason to root for this hero and instead, we spend time with characters who are either foolish or ambiguous.
 
  |
To be sure, there are some pleasures in The Crownless King, starting with Montgomery’s delicious villain Davy Boone and following with the strong and regal Lady Olympia played by Ms. Barrie. The team does up the ante of the dragon puppetry representing Irek Obsidian, making it appear to stretch across the entire theater. Tracy Letts’s pre-recorded voice serves this mysterious and villainous character well. He has as good a villain voice as the likes of James Earl Jones, Ian McDiarmid or Jeremy Irons, to be sure, and Hollywood ought to give a listen to his readings here. Speaking of auditory pleasures, Kevin O’Donnell again provides a lush original musical score. And when the characters aren’t simply standing around talking, Allen makes inventive use of his in-the-round space, with actors coming and going from four entrances that form a crossroads through the seating.
The philosophical question Allen and Mathews pose is a worthy one. It’s sparked by the two “storytellers” – Hap the Golden (Cliff Chamberlain) and Irek Obsidian. In The Iron Stag King, we were led to believe the storytellers were part historian, part sooth, predicting with certainty the fates of various characters as their “stories.” Our sympathies have been with Hap, who led Casper on his quest for the throne, but here we’re made to doubt our assumptions of who’s good and who’s evil. Must the characters follow the destinies described to them by the storytellers or do they have the power to make their own stories? It’s not a bad theme, but it surfaces late in the play here, after scenes and scenes of talk without a whole lot happening.
The best sequels manage to up the ante by not only reprising the favorite elements of the original, but also offering new and even more wondrous ones. The Crownless King fails to do this, but it does set the stage for a big finish in the third installment of the trilogy. I’ll be back, fully hoping and expecting that Allen and Mathews will be inspired by the right kind of storyteller.
Rating: ★★½
The Crownless King continues through October 20th at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 7pm. Tickets are $20-$40, and are available by phone (773-769-3832) or online through PrintTixUSA.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at TheHouseTheatre.com. (Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Michael Brosilow
artists
cast
Brenda Barrie (Lady Olympia of the Grass), Cliff Chamberlain (Hap the Golden), Paige Collins (Rienne Bealieu), Kay Kron (July of the Seven Foxes), Tracy Letts (Voice of Irek Obsidian), Morgan Maher (Wilke Forsbrand), Blake Montgomery (Davy Boone), John Henry Roberts (Hollow Thom), Brandon Ruiter (Casper Kent), Christopher M. Walsh (Abraham Pride, Bilge), Kara Davidson, Patrick Falcon, Ben Hertel (ensemble).
behind the scenes
Nathan Allen (director), Collette Pollard (scenic design), Lee Keenan (lighting design), Kevin O’Donnell (original music), Tommy Rapley (movement director), Melissa Torchia (costume design), Josh Horvath (sound design), Rachel Watson (puppets), Kelly A. Claussen (stage management), Michael Brosilow (photos).
13-0917
