Playwright: Melanie Marnich/Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. At: Caffeine Theatre at the Raven Theatre Complex, 6157 N. Clark. Phone: 312-409-4778; $20 . ( $35 for both shows ) Runs through: April 12
Why hasn't someone thought to do this sooner? Author Melanie Marnich made no secret of her rural-noir shocker being anything but an updated revision of Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's 17th-century spine-chiller, The Changeling ( not to be confused with the recent movie of the same title ) . So what could be more logical than for a single company to stage them together in repertory?
Our prototype is lurid enough: the haughty Beatrice favors a handsome stranger over her betrothed. Her solution is to persuade her misshapen servant, DeFlores, to murder the inconvenient fiancé—a deed that soon embroils beauty and beast in a labyrinth of betrayal, arson, mutilation of corpses, bedroom switches and polygraphic magical potions. Theatrical conventions of the period also mandate that Middleton and Rowley provide us with a ribald scenario whose theme mirrors that of the main story—in this case, involving a physician at a lunatic asylum who fears for his pretty wife's fidelity, little realizing that his loyal helpmeet will prove more true than either protector or seducer.
Tallgrass Gothic sets us down in a corner of corn-country America so isolated as to be barely identifiable as the present day. Our bored babe declares her gearhead husband to be sexually repugnant, leading her to seek solace with her white-collar lover. Adultery may not be as abhorrent in 2009 as in 1622, but her decision to seduce one of the garage mechanics into killing the obstructive spouse is still criminal. The comic subplot has been excised entirely, what small humor now remaining supplied by our heroine's BFF—a beer-swilling, dope-smoking, pill-popping, possibly lesbian hoyden who swallows swords for amusement.
For the parallels between the two plays to be fully appreciated, both productions, ideally, would be commensurate in quality. Unfortunately, this ambitious project forces Caffeine Theatre to cast many roles with actors fresh out of the classroom—granted, classrooms affiliated with highly advanced training programs—but lending a decidedly academic ambience to the proceedings nevertheless. This is most evident in The Changeling, where otherwise capable young thespians struggle with their unfamiliar language. Where Restoration-era ruffs and laces are cobbled onto, rather than integrated with, contemporary fashions ( listen closely and you'll recognize the pop songs arranged for chamber orchestra ) . And where clowns doggedly recite their bawdy witticisms with no apparent understanding of why they are supposed to be funny.
What rescues The Changeling from becoming a mere curtain-raiser, however, is company member Jeremy van Meter's performance as the sinister DeFlores. Amid scene-study apprentices adept only at connecting with their own characters' emotional progress, his deft phrasing keeps us apprised, not only of our "honest villain's" disposition, but how it fits into the dramatic scheme as a whole, commanding our attention even when he shares the stage with a nightie-clad vixen bleeding profusely from a fatal wound to the groin. And while the contrast in technique and experience is less pronounced in the more accessible Tallgrass Gothic—which features impressive work by Kaitlin Byrd as the neglected sidekick and Eric Schnitger as the rejected hubby—the action is still anchored by his presence in the role of the intense outsider determined to win the lady whose fair face conceals a corrupt soul.
That Tallgrass Gothic emerges as the centerpiece in Caffeine's double-header should come as no surprise, however. The popular appeal of Jacobean tragedy ( unless repackaged in modern decor ) has been diluted over three centuries, while Marnich is rapidly taking the spotlight as one of our most talented new playwrights. If you haven't encountered her writing before, this is your chance to rectify that oversight.
