The Millionairess
Written by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Robert Scogin
Ruth Page Center, 1016 N. Dearborn (map)
thru Nov 5 | tickets: $25 | more info
The play mocks the 1%; its staging mocks the 99%
ShawChicago presents
The Millionairess
Review by Keith Glab
The one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street took place last month, making ShawChicago’s production of The Millionairess to open their 19th season a timely one. George Bernard Shaw’s satire mocks the attitudes of the 1%, their treatment of the 99%, and questions the means by which wealthy people come into their fortunes.
Epifania Ognisanti di Parerga (Lydia Berger Gray) received her fortune from her father, who charged her with only marrying a man who could spin 150 pounds into 50,000 within six months. The bumbling Alastair Fitzfassenden (Gary Alexander) managed to do this mostly through illegal check kiting, which Eppy overlooked due to Alastair’s athletic good looks. As the curtain rises, the marriage has fizzled, with both parties seeing other companions of the opposite sex and hiring the same lawyer (Joseph Bowen) to represent them in their divorce proceedings. The Millionairess soon tires of her Sunday Husband (Jonathan Nichols) as well and becomes interested in a philanthropic Egyptian Doctor (Mark Plonsky in a fez). She issues him her father’s edict, and the doctor counters with his own challenge from his mother: Epifania must earn her own living for six months with only 35 pence to start.
It’s a fun script, and it has to be. ShawChicago utilizes a signature concert reading technique in which the actors face the audience with their scripts on music stands. All of their lines are delivered out to the audience. There is no set; the only lighting effect is a blackout between acts, and the sound effects are minimal. The actors do read in costume and get the occasional prop, plus once in a while they are allowed fleeting moments of blocking, such as feeling the pulse of the actor next to them. But mostly, the performance is carried by the actors’ voices, facial expressions, and the script.
Shaw’s characters are larger than life in this farce, and this allows the cast to play big in their attempt to hold the audience’s attention for two hours. Eight of the nine actors have previous experience with ShawChicago and the stylized form of acting necessary for these concert readings. For the most part, the cast does a competent job with the characterizations, though they could have made the characters even larger given the circumstances. What isn’t acceptable is the occasional line flub and jumping of another actor’s line. The script is right in front of them; with all the disadvantages of a staged reading format, at least make use of its benefits.
Whether this form of presentation is viable in the 21st century is debatable. Even though The Millionairess lends itself somewhat to a concert reading format, the play is about relationships, which will always be far more interesting with a traditional staging. What’s really galling is that, before the show opens, ShawChicago does not openly disclose the fact that this won’t be a traditional staging on its website, in the show’s program, or in their promotional materials. Managing director Tony Courier delivered a pre-show spiel about season subscriptions and such that pushes 10 minutes, but even that fails to tell the audience what to expect from the performance. More than half the audience on the day I attended was seeing a ShawChicago production for the first time, according to Courier’s survey. Most of them had no idea what they were getting into and audibly complained about it during intermission. Children in attendance were completely restless.
To put it as delicately as possible, ShawChicago is disingenuous in the way it markets itself. They cast a wide net through Goldstar and such to fill the theater, and a small minority will take to their concert reading style and become subscribers. But in the process, they essentially trick everyone else into spending their money on something that they would not choose to if they had all the facts. In staging a play that champions the 99%, this oppression of the 99% is ironic, and not in a good way.
Rating: ★½
The Millionairess continues through November 5th at Ruth Page Center, 1016 N. Dearborn (map), with performances Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm, Monday 7pm. Tickets are $25, and are available by phone (312-587-7390) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com. More information at ShawChicago.org. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
Photos by Lila M. Stromer
artists
cast
Joseph Bowen (Julius Sagamore ), Lydia Berger Gray (Epifania Ognisanti di Parerga), Gary Alexander (Alastair Fitzfassenden) Jhenai Mootz (Patricia Smith), Jonathan Nichols (Adrian Blenderbland), Matthew Gall (Hotel Manager), Mark Plonsky (An Egyptian Doctor), Skip Lundby (Joe), Mary Mitchell (Joe’s Wife)
behind the scenes
Robert Scogin (director); Tony Courier (managing director); Lisa Gordon (stage manager), Lila M. Stromer (photos)
