|
COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.
In his excellent first season as artistic director of London's Royal National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner has continued the recent company policy of offering safe haven to the best of America's theatrical talent. In this instance--in an adaptation of "His Girl Friday," Howard Hawks's 1940 screwball-comedy version of the 1928 Hecht-MacArthur satire on American journalism, "The Front Page"--the playwright John Guare and the director Jack O'Brien make their Royal National debuts. They return the honor by delivering a rambunctious summer hit. Playfulness is the stock-in-trade of both gents. They show their hand even before the story begins, as the fun machine is cranked up in front of the audience. The flats of the pressroom and the Chicago skyline behind its windows are lowered into place; the smoke machine belches test clouds; the array of bulbous lights above the sprawling Olivier proscenium blink on and off; period jazz music plays over the bustle of actors as they chat with each other and warm up. The stage hubbub makes the play feel like a frisky racehorse being pushed into its gate.
When "His Girl Friday" is finally off and running--a red light signals the start--it stumbles at the first narrative hurdle, bedevilled by the humdrum exposition and...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
| 
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
