Like the unearthing of a treasure, director Ed Baierlein has dusted off Eugene O’Neill’s rarely performed “More Stately Mansions” — a sequel to “A Touch of the Poet” — and reveals it as a masterpiece.
Following his stellar helming and performance as Melody in “Poet,” Baierlein not only produces unprecedented back-to- back productions of the first two of what O’Neill originally planned as an 11-play cycle, but stuns us with rare insight into the playwright’s complex, brilliant layering of an epic American tale on a classical tragic structure.
At the Germinal Stage Denver, Baierlein conducts this second installment of his master class entirely in masks — a stunning array of idealized plastic forms that age and pervert with the characters — with the effect of revealing the archetypal psychological underpinnings of the saga of the Harford family.
Using a refined style of movement reminiscent of his heralded 1999 Japanese Noh interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ “Suddenly Last Summer,” Baierlein leaves the surface realism of events behind and transports us to the subconscious battleground where the Harfords wage their struggles for domination.
We cannot help but admire O’Neill’s subtly executed conceit that ties instinctive and egoistic impulses to the underlying motivations for materialism and economic expansionism. But the playwright’s synthesis of the human gestalt does not stop there: He includes a love triangle involving the family matriarch, her son and his wife.
On a simple, three-tiered set furnished with benches and an arbor that leads to a metaphorically magic door, we observe the unmasked Deborah Harford, recent widow of the late tycoon, Henry, as she waxes poetic on her charms and fantasy as lover to the French king.
Former ballerina Lori Hansen, as Deborah, enraptures us with ritualized movement while intoning O’Neill’s lyrical overture, setting the tone for an evening rife with such refined pleasures. As her son and her business adviser approach, she dons her mask as the majority shareholder.
The surreal setting is immediately reinforced by the formally clad, yet otherworldly presence of Eric Victor, as Nicholas Gadsby, and the dark, brooding detachment of Andrew Schmidt, as Joel Harford. They commence badgering and cajoling Deborah, whom they consider delusional, into relinquishing her control of the company, which has, they announce, fallen into near bankruptcy as a result of Henry’s ill-fated land speculations.
Seizing the opportunity to reconcile with her oldest son, Simon, her daughter-in-law, Sara, and her grandchildren, Deborah reveals herself to be a calculating player fully capable of manipulating others — talents shared equally by Simon and Sara.
In a captivating performance, Zachary M. Andrews draws a poignant arc for Simon, from a sinuous, good-natured young man having weathered his failure as a poet, to an angular, controlling and greedy Leviathan, consumed by his need to dominate and break business adversaries and family members alike.
Sara’s shrewd and confident presence blossoms in L. Corwin Christie’s aesthetic blend of mellifluous and seductive persuasions, as she fulfills both her father’s dream of a noble’s wealth and power and her own, of a temple goddess.
Despite O’Neill’s lifelong trials and dark themes, “More Stately Mansions” culminates in a remarkably honest and healing scene, reconciling universal emotional issues with impressive simplicity.
More remarkable still, Baierlein succeeds grandly where other distinguished directors have failed, making perfect sense of the unfinished play, begging us to wonder where O’Neill felt it lacking. No higher compliment could be paid to both artists.
Bob Bows also reviews theater for Variety, KUVO/89.3 FM, and his website, . He can be reached at BBows@ColoradoDrama.com.
“More Stately Mansions”
Presented by Germinal Stage Denver, 2450 W. 44th Ave. Written by Eugene O’Neill. Directed and designed by Ed Baierlein. Starring Lori Hansen, L. Corwin Christie, Zachary M. Andrews. 2 hours. Through Dec. 16. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. $15.75-$19.75. 303-455-7108.
3 more plays
“Tiny Tim is Dead.” Theatre Group presents this gritty holiday tale by Barbara Lebow about a “family” of tough urban street people who discover a worn-out copy of “A Christmas Carol” and re-enact the story through their unique lenses. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday through Jan. 5 at Theatre Off-Broadway, 1124 Santa Fe Drive. $17-$22 (2-for-1 Thursdays). 303-777-3292 or .
“Over the River and Through the Woods.” This intergenerational comedy by Joe DiPietro (“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”) follows a single, Italian-American guy from New Jersey who tells his parents and grandparents he’s landed a dream job in Seattle. From there, the schemes begin to get Nick to stay put. Cast includes Jack Wefso and Missy Moore. 7:30 p.m. most Thursdays-Saturdays through Jan. 19 at the Backstage Theatre, 121 S. Ridge Street in Breckenridge. $10-$25 (970-453-0199 or .).
“David and Julie Payne’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ “ The Aurora Fox’s annual staging features original music along with seasonal carols. Starring Jack Casperson, Jimmy Ferraro and Hugo Jon Sayles. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 23 at 9900 E. Colfax Ave. (303-739-1970, .).
Coming Sunday: A complete rundown of the more than 30 holiday-themed theater productions being staged around Colorado. John Moore
