BWW Reviews: BLAME IT ON BECKETT - Colony's Hilarious Homage to Theatre
By: Don Grigware Aug. 21, 2012
Blame It On Beckett/by John Morogiello/directed by Andrew Barnicle/Colony Theatre/through September 2
As a playwright Samuel Beckett was known to have a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, conveyed with ample amounts of black comedy, as in his classic Waiting For Godot. In his mind, only through the destitution of modern man could there come some elevation. John Morogiello's Blame It On Beckett uses the same kind of outlook on the condition of regional theatre. If there is the slightest glimmer of hope, it only appears after much upheaval and disappointment. With a fine cast and outstanding direction from Andrew Barnicle, Blame It On Beckett makes hilarious waves at the Colony through September 2.
Out with the old and in with the new when Heidi Bishop (Blythe Auffarth), fresh from college, becomes an intern in a regional New England theatre literary office. That's right; she wants to become a dramaturg. When was the last time a dramaturg was the leading character in a play about the theatre? An actor or director or playwright, maybe, but a dramaturg? This is a first. And with this convention Morogiello makes the play ultimately accessible to any living, breathing person who has spent his life working in/for the theatre.
Well, veteran dramaturg Jim Foley (Louis Lotorto) is the man of the hour who must teach Heidi to quell her enthusiasm. Like all jaded dramaturgs, Foley will instruct Bishop to read the first ten pages of a script...and then, reject it. Bishop, of course, is out to make a difference, and even though she lacks an evil nature, when assistant Mike (Brian Ibsen) asks her to keep a journal with changes that should be made in the office, she complies, not realizing that he intends to use it to oust Foley and ensure a better position for himself. Foley is an aging homosexual and very ill - we're never told if he is HIV, but his pill popping seems to indicate that he is sick and needs this job to survive. One other character Tina Fike, an aging feminist playwright (Peggy Goss) is about to transfer her current play to Broadway and this could be a grand coup for the theatre. Bishop goes quite a way to ensure Fike's comraderie, alienating Foley's association with her. The young girl who didn't really mean to stir up so much controversy, did more than her share of damage, and, to top it all off, comes out a winner.
Morogiello's script is full of blatant humor, like, for example, drawing a detailed comparison between the theatre and the Catholic Church. Both are forever on the decline, relying on donations to endure, but somehow, some way, always manage to stay afloat. And this seems to be the message of the play. Backstabbing or not, all, except Mike, are still working by play's end and still on speaking terms with one another. Some will expectedly die out, some will make a difference, but that's life in the theatre, and like Beckett's own perspective, some happiness emerges through sorrowful circumstances.
Under Barnicle's smooth direction, the play may boast a terrific ensemble. Lotorto is imperiously funny in his jaded, elitist state, as Auffarth is magnificently passionate and feisty in her determination to 'change the world'. Goss is equally affecting as the blase playwright who must content herself with her former glory, as she faces her waning years. Ibsen is just fine as the selfish assistant, who like a corporate executive, is mindless to whoever gets in his way. Stephen Gifford's scenic design of the downstairs literary office is just right, but I so wanted to see the stage above utilized at some point!
Isn't it about time that costumers, scenic designers and all backstage crew told their stories too? Thanks to John Morogiello, Blame It On Beckett opens up the field to one and all. This is a delightful evening for anyone who loves the theatre, especially for those that will do anything to ensure its future.
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