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<b>by Peter Shaffer, directed by Ted Follows
Theatre & Company, King Street Theatre, Kitchener
February 21-March 9, 2002
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"Enlarge, Enliven, Enlighten"
Theatre & Company’s fine new production of “Lettice and Lovage” gives local audiences a different view of British playwright Peter Shaffer. Shaffer is best know for such plays as “The Royal Hunt of the Sun” (1964), Equus” (1973) and “Amadeus” (1979), the last two recently presented by the Stratford Festival. Each of these plays focusses on a struggle for dominance between two men in the realms of history (“Hunt”), psychology (“Equus”) and art (Amadeus”) concluding with the destruction of a youthful visionary by a middle-aged representative of the mediocre. “Lettice and Lovage” (1987) is a welcome change from this pattern. We still have the conflict of the visionary and the mediocre, but this time the main characters are two middle-aged women, this time the two opposites reach an accord, this time the play is a comedy and a witty, warm-hearted one at that.
The play charts the change from antagonism to growing friendship between tour guide Lettice Douffet and Lotte Schoen, her superior from the Preservation Trust. We first meet Lettice in the midst of giving a tour of Fustian House in Britain. To compensate for the fact that nothing of interest ever took place in Fustian House for 400 years, the patter of the highly eccentric and theatrical Lettice has grown so rich with her own elaborate (and quite humorous) invention that it no longer has much semblance to the truth. After one of Lettice’s more egregious embellishments, Lotte cuts her off for not following the fact list issued by the Preservation Trust and fires her. Yet there is something about this woman who sees the past so vividly and who refuses to accept the mediocrity of the present that speaks to a side of Lotte long-buried by life as an efficient bureaucrat. Lotte makes a move to help the now-unemployed Lettice and in the process we see how two such unlikely people can become friends and join forces against a common enemy.
The play is not grand or spectacular like Shaffer’s three better-known plays, but that makes it all the more suitable for an intimate space like the Theatre & Company’s King Street Theatre, configured this time as a three-quarter thrust. There may be less at stake here than in the other three plays, but “Lettice and Lovage” is thankfully devoid of their pretentiousness. Why we are so ready to accept the mediocre in general, the “mere” as Lettice puts it, and modern architectural ugliness in specific are questions that have only become more relevant as we consider more closely the cultural environments we have created.
Shaffer wrote the juicy role of the eccentric Lettice Douffet for Maggie Smith, who, as everyone knows, can make a gripping performance out of the proverbial telephone book. When I first saw the play in London Carole Shelley had already taken over the role and was doing her best to imitate Dame Maggie. Director Ted Follows and actor Linda Bush have wisely taken a different course. Follows and Bush work to make Lettice more of a believable character rather than the wholly fantastical creature I saw in London. What is lost is the overwhelming charisma that dominates everyone she meets. What is gained is a greater sense of vulnerability, as if Lettice uses her theatricality to hide an inner fragility and fear of a modern world she doesn’t understand. To have Bush play Lettice in this way means she and Lotte can appear much more as equals and gives greater support to the ending where each sees how she can benefit the other.
Kathleen Sheehy is excellent as Lotte. She shows that Lotte’s stern exterior also is a cover for a sense of loss and regret. Lettice’s background (her mother was an actor-manager) has nurtured her flamboyance; Lotte’s background (her father published art books) has led her to bitterness. In the play’s second act it is delightful to see how Bush and Sheehy gradually break the ice between these distrustful women to reveal a common ground between them.
Beside these two there are two other actors not including the four who make up Lettice’s tour group and Lettice’s cat, Felina Queen of Sorrows. Alison Jutzi makes the small part of Lotte’s trepidatious secretary memorable and George Joyce is perfect for the part of Lettice’s philistine solicitor who gradually gives in to the tug of Lettice’s imaginative world.
Dennis Horn has designed the impressive set, a massive staircase for Fustian House that takes up most of the stage but can easily be transformed into Lotte’s office and Lettice’s basement flat. His costumes bring out the contrast of the characters particularly when Lettice is in her Mary Queen of Scots mode, but he could have allowed himself a bit more whimsy in Lettice’s everyday wear of Acts 2 and 3. Andrew Lakin’s lighting is most effective when underscoring changes of mood.
Ted Follows’ clear direction shows insight into the play and the personality of its characters. He is excellent at making us feel the shifting balance of power between Lettice and Lotte giving the play a tension that compensates for its episodic structure. It also gives focus to a conclusion that seems too narrow for the themes Shaffer has evoked.
Lettice’s motto is “Enlarge, enliven, enlighten”. She is theatrical but, as her symbolic lovage-laced quaff indicates, she is also an embodiment of the theatre itself. Her imagination can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. She calls on all she meets to reinvigorate themselves by sharing her vision. Theatre & Company’s motto could well be Lettice’s. This lively production fulfils all three commands with ease.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a <i>Stage Door</i> exclusive.
Photo: Kathleen Sheehy. ©2012 Lost&Found Theatre.
<b> 2002-02-25</b>
<b>Lettice and Lovage</b>