RAT The More Things Change...

[ActorsGng1@aol.com]

Arthur Hanket, a member of our ensemble, sent me this clipping.  Perhaps a 
good reminder to those of us in LA, NY, SF, etc that there's still a lot of 
hearts and minds out there to be won, or touched.

Mark
Actors' Gang

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   Theater review: ``Gross Indecency'' 
      By ROBERT TRUSSELL The Kansas City Star 
      Date: 02/19/00 01:18 


      a.. When: Friday, Feb. 18 (through March 5) 

      b.. Where: UMKC Performing Arts Center 

      c.. Attendance: 300 (approx.) 

      d.. Presented by: Missouri Repertory Theatre 

      e.. Tickets: (816) 235-2700 

      The case for theater's relevance was made with painful eloquence Friday 
night at Missouri Repertory Theatre. 

      As anti-gay protesters braved the cold with mean-spirited signs on 
Rockhill, theatergoers assembled for the Rep's classy production of an 
important play depicting with chilling clarity the destructive nature of a 
homophobic society mired in sexual hypocrisy. 

      Moises Kaufman's "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" is 
an absorbing drama based on the obsessive prosecution of the writer in 1895 
for doing what, apparently, many others in British society were doing. By 
selecting sometimes contradictory accounts from newspapers, trial 
transcripts, letters and memoirs, Kaufman also describes an atmosphere in 
which art is itself on trial. 

      Even today, we in America continue to judge, condemn, prosecute and 
castigate those among us who pursue sexual freedom, while lamenting the 
"immorality" of high art and low-brow entertainment alike. Wilde believed 
that art should not and did not exist on the conventional moral scale of his 
day; that, as much as his sexual preferences, put him at odds with the 
British establishment. Or so it seems in Kaufman's play. 

      Director Paul Barnes has assembled a strong cast that includes several 
veterans of previous productions of "Gross Indecency," and the result is 
acting of a generally high order. Oh, inevitably there's a bit of 
scenery-chewing here and there, and some characters are reduced to 
quick-sketch cartoons, but there's no denying the play's authority or its 
power. It's refreshing to see a dramatic work that manages to be cerebral and 
visceral. 

      The quality of the acting -- not to mention creative work from scenic 
designer Gary Wichansky and particularly lighting designer Victor En Yu Tan 
-- renders the play's stylized approach accessible, compelling and often 
comic. This is serious theater, but it's also grandly, audaciously 
entertaining, reminiscent in some ways of "Angels in America." 

      Arthur Hanket doesn't look much like Oscar Wilde -- he's handsome and 
Wilde was not -- but his performance is an impressive piece of work, richly 
detailed and memorable for his delivery of Wilde's frequent witty rejoinders. 
Tom Story finds ways to make Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde's young lover, 
sympathetic despite his maddening, manipulative behavior. 

      Michael Fitzpatrick is a polished, authoritative Sir Edward Clarke, who 
defends Wilde in court. Jeffrey Guyton lays on the ignorance and bigotry of 
the Marquess of Queensbury, Lord Alfred's father, with a trowel in the first 
act, but becomes admirably restrained in his later appearance as Gill, one of 
Wilde's prosecutors. John Rensenhouse, always a charismatic actor, could 
stand to take it down a notch or two as Edward Carson. 

      The "Greek chorus" of David Reed, Mark Silence, Tom Woodward and 
Michael Shipley provides a succession of brief but memorable performances. 
They appear as jurors, news readers, Wilde's illicit lovers and certain 
notable literary figures, notably Frank Harris and George Bernard Shaw. They 
bring a satirical edge to the production that allows it to escape a fate 
worse than death -- self-importance. 

      So while there may be legitimate nits to pick, this is, overall, an 
impressive production of an exceptional play that needs to be seen. 


      To reach Robert Trussell, theater critic, call 234-4765 or send e-mail 
to rtrussell@kcstar.com