The
Illusion
Adapted
by Tony Kushner from Pierre Corneille
Directed by Paul Mullins
Critical
Reviews
The Illusion is a mystifying tale
By Allen Crossett, Drama Critic, August 15, 2002
On the surface, The Illusion is easy enough. Pridamant, an
aging father, seeks news of his prodigal son from the sorcerer
Alcandre. Fifteen years earlier the father disowned his son
and drove him away, and now, before the father dies, he wants
to see his son again. He says he wants to tell his son that
he loves him.
What the magician offers is a vision of three episodes from
the son's life. Names change, relationships change, and each
of the scenes takes place in a different setting, and only
when the final vision reaches its climax does the father discover
the truth. And this truth he doesn't much like.
Pierre Corneille wrote L'Illusion Comique (Theatrical Illusion)
in 1636 as a young man, before El Cid and other tragedies
established his fame. About 350 years later a young Tony Kushner
came along and freely adapted the work, before his fame was
defined by his Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America. There
is something unmistakably youthful about The Illusion for
it's a work in which heady ideas can swirl in metaphor.
In creating his version, Kushner pares away much of the ornamentation
of 17th century French theater, and he takes Corneille's five-act
comedy and reduces it to a lively two acts. This is not a
translation, however; Kushner's version is in many ways a
new play.
Summarizing the story is much easier than offering an interpretation,
even when the production of this curious piece now at The
Shakespeare Festival is directed by Paul Mullins. This talented
director last season staged Ionesco's Rhinoceros with stunning
success, and now he returns with this tantalizing dark comedy.
What does it all mean? One approach is to see The Illusion
as a play about love. Near the end, the sorcerer explains
to Pridamant, "Love, which seems the realest thing, is really
nothing at all." And a moment later he adds, "The art of illusion
is the art of love, and the art of love is the blood-red heart
of the world."
The Illusion is also a play about the theater where artist
and audience work together to create reality out of make-believe.
The setting is the cave of the magician, near a small town
in the south of France during the 17th century, and program
notes include an extended excerpt from the "Allegory of the
Cave" from The Republic. In this passage, Plato argues that
true reality is found not in the world of sight and the other
senses but rather in the higher, spiritual world of the ideal
and universal.
This is the idea that seems to permeate the production, and
it starts with the audience at the theater first accepting
the actors who portray the father and the magician as real
people. And then it moves to those actors becoming an audience
for the three episodes that function as short plays within
the frame of the larger play.
And within those episodes there could well be yet another
level...or more.
Mullins is working with a very impressive cast that includes
John FitzGibbon as the father, with Edmond Genest as the magician
and Craig Wallace as his servant. Robert Petkoff portrays
the son, and Margot White appears in each episode as the woman
he loves, with Amanda Ronconi as her servant. Completing the
ensemble is Lorenzo Pisoni as the son's rival, with Paul Niebanck
as a lunatic.
Adding immeasurably to the exotic mood of this production
is the superb work of set designer Michael Schweikardt, who
finds all sorts of clever ways for the setting to explore
reality and illusion, and costume designer Jacqueline Firkins,
whose 17th century costumes are magnificent.
The work of lighting designer Michael Giannitti and sound
designer Jason A Tratta also contribute significantly.
Parts of The Illusion are very funny while other parts are
strange and mystifying. The direction by Paul Mullins, however,
provides clarity in both its exquisite visual imagery and
its reflection of intelligent thought.
"The Illusion" will be staged through Aug. 25 at F.M. Kirby
Shakespeare Theatre, Madison. For tickets, call (973) 408-5600.
Excerpts from Naomi Siegel's review, Montclair Times
and the Item of Milburn:
With French neo-classicist Pierre Corneille's 1636 comedy
"L'illusion Comique," the writer has chosen a distinctly lightweight
vehicle for adaptation, albeit one shadowed by themes of loss,
family dysfunction and betrayal. Written in 1990, Kushner's
"The Illusion," currently being presented by the New Jersey
Shakespeare Festival as their third main stage production
of the season, pays tribute both to the classic conventions
of Corneille's comic form while, at the same time, tweaking
those same conventions.
The result is a Corneille-Kushner hybrid, to quote critic
Jack Helbig---a two level entertainment serving as a meditation
on the power of theater and storytelling and on the function
of memory, while offering a genuinely moving story of a remorseful
old man's search for his long-lost son. Kushner doesn't hesitate
to pare down the work to two acts, yet, when the muse hits,
add several scenes of his own.
A wonderful ensemble effort by the Festival cast under the
inspired, stylish direction of Paul Mullins. In the role of
Calisto, handsome Robert Petkoff makes a fervent, endlessly
libidinous wandering son. His female counterpart--referred
to as Melibea, then Isabelle, and finally Hippolyta----is
played by lovely Margot White. Ms. White's adolescent Melibea
starts out with the singsong, know-it-all plaint of a "valley
girl," and moves, ultimately as Hippolyta, into the heartrending
regret experienced by a betrayed, wounded wife.
As Elicia/Lyse/Clarina--wily maid, lusty lover and concerned
confidante--Amanda Ronconi performs with infinite charm and
spunk. Lorenzo Pisoni undertakes the swashbuckling roles of
Pleribo/Adraste/Prince Florilame with panache, and his display
of swordsmanship against the agile Mr. Petkoff, elegantly
choreographed by fight-meister Rick Sordelet, draws gasps
from the audience.
Lending a manic comic note, with enough buffoonery to provoke
gales of laughter yet sufficient suggestion of deep-seated
vulnerability to earn our sympathy, is the superb Paul Niebanck
as Matamore. His is a truly artful comic riff, mining, to
perfection, the verbose braggadocio of this pedantic wordsmith
(maid Lyse is branded a "dread Medusa of the linen closet,"
for example). I loved his work here.
Rounding out the cast with distinction are John Fitzgibbon
as the searching father Pridamant and Craig Wallace as both
the Amanuensis, mute assistant to the sorcerer, and as Isabelle's
harsh and dictatorial father.
Director Mullins has opted for a dark, rather somber palette
for the play. Following set designer Michael Schweikardt's
marvelously voluptuous red felt roses that anchor the first
fantasy, there are few visual fireworks to keep us riveted
as the play moves on. So much the shame, given the opening
touch of whimsy that this talented designer offers as an eye-popping
tease.
Performances of "The Illusion" at the New Jersey Shakespeare
Festival, Drew University, Madison, conclude August 25. For
ticket information call (973) 408-5600.
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