Playwright: Susanna Centlivre. At: Point of Contention Productions at the Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood. Phone: 312-326-3631; $15. Runs through: Aug. 26
Susanna Centlivre was a restoration-era playwright who took advantage of the newly-lifted restrictions on women in show businessthey even appeared onstage!to write a series of extremely successful comedies featuring feisty ( often cross-dressing ) chicks like herself. Better known nowadays in scholarly circles for The Gamester, her 1714 romantic farce entitled The Wonder: A Woman Keeps A Secret nevertheless provides the perfect vehicle for summer viewing.
Indeed, the sultry Aug. climate puts us in just the mood for this tale of intrigue set, in this Point of Contention adaptation, amid the expatriate European gentry during the carnival season in Rio de Janeiro circa 1810, where the beautiful Isabella flees her father's home rather than marry the rich suitor chosen for her, taking refuge with her BFF Violante, whose dad wants her to join a convent. Stir into this crisis a pair of hunky Señor RightsIsabella's brother, the obsessively jealous Felix, and the horn-dogging English soldier, Brittonalong with assorted mischievous servants, and what you get is, well, the usual deck of cards waiting to be shuffled in ingenious, if not wholly original, ways.
For despite centuries of real-life social advancement, certain plots and the values they reflect have proven to be timeless. Bachelors are still assumed to balk at the prospect of monogamy, however attractive the terms of surrender, while maidens continue to regard matrimony as the key to spiritual, not merely economical, happiness. And though, as the homily says, "love is sweeter with bread," the promptings of the heart still trump material comfort as the proper foundation for a good marriage. ( Lest our modern sensibilities render us skeptical, Centlivre has both patriarchs concerned more for their own superfluous profit than for the welfare of their offspring. )
The vocal energy and athletic stamina of a cast dominated by alumni of the Rascal Children's Theatre corps lends itself to a fast-paced romp under the direction of Margo Gray. The uncredited scenic designimposed on that of the other production sharing its quartersguarantees the numerous doors mandatory to this genre, while Brandon Baisden's sound design is a delightful blend of traditional and contemporary ethnic musical styles. For all its symmetric satisfaction, however, the script leaves a narrative thread curiously unresolved. Is it an oversight on Centlivre's part that best-buddy Frederick is forced to give up the girl he loves? Or does his sacrifice herald a sequel to the adventures of Isabella and Violante? Stay tuned.