Playwright: adapted by Giles Havergal from the novel by Graham Greene. At: Writers' Theatre at Books on Vernon, 664 Vernon Ave. in Glencoe. Phone: 847-242-6000; $45-$60. Runs through: March 27, 2011
Audiences at the Writers' Theatre production of Travels With My Aunt are going to have to make a choice: On one dramatic level, there is Graham Greene's 1969 screwball thrillerits motifs sometimes vaguely racist or sexist to our sensibilities, but in 2010, nevertheless retro enough to emerge as nostalgically charming. On another, there is Giles Havergal's 1989 page-to-stage adaptation, which scores the text for four male voices, transforming the narrative to a prototypal stunt-show along the lines of Shakespeare (Unabridged). And just to further split our attention, there's also the clever live-action sound effects executed stageside by whomever is unoccupied elsewhere.
The aforementioned narrative recounts the progress of one Henry Pulling, a stodgy, middle-aged banker who discovers upon the death of his likewise stodgy mum, that he has an auntnext to fairy godmothers, fiction writers' favorite agitatorswhose checkered past and equally checkered present soon has her bewildered nephew participating in a variety of complicated intrigues taking them to exotic regions. In addition to an array of shady characters and skeptical law enforcement officers, he encounters several young women enjoying their OWN adventures, in which he, as a stranger and a foreigner, suddenly finds himself figuring.
The roster of personalities25 in allare divided among the four actors with no regard to fixed roles. True, the WASP-faced John Hoogenakker appears most often as the assorted cops and spooks, the Latinesque Sean Fortunato claims the lion's share of Aunt Augusta's scenes, while the African American LaShawn Banks' chief role is that of her devoted valet-with-benefits, with Jeremy Sher completing the quartet as noisemaker and utility man.
The confined quarters in Writers' Theatre's suburban storefront that reduces Brian Sidney Bembridge's set dressing to a collection of suitcases and incidental props makes for smooth and swift transitions under the choreographic direction of company newcomer Stuart Carden for the cozy two hours of their running time. The four players, carefully drilled by dialect consultant Eva Breneman, ascertain that our re-orientation time as we zip from locale to locale and persona to persona is minimal and effortless. There's still the problem of the constantly-shifting focus, howeverbut since the show is scheduled to play until March, why not see it more than once and thus, get the whole experience?