Sense and Sensibility at Parker Theatre

Last night I spent a delightful evening in Regency England with Parker Theatre's original adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. The death of their father leaves Elinor and Marianne Dashwood (Jasmine Hohl and Isabelle Purdie, respectively) in reduced circumstances so they have no other option but to seek advantageous marriages. The sensible and reserved Elinor silently pines for Edward Ferrars (Truman Schipper), who is expected to marry well by his mother, while the passionate Marianne is swept up, literally, in a romance with the dashing John Willoughby (Spencer Hohl), who needs a wealthy wife after he is cut off by his family for his indiscretions. Both sisters ultimately find happiness when they balance reason with emotion. Elinor finally reveals her feelings to Edward when he is free to propose and Marianne finds the value in real love, rather than impetuous infatuation, with Colonel Brandon (Jordan Palmer). I didn't especially like the adaptation I saw at the Utah Shakespeare Festival several years ago because it made too many changes to the source material but, even though this version also takes a few liberties, I think it remains true to the spirit of the novel and I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the addition of several scenes that show the juxtaposition between Colonel Brandon and Willoughby. I was impressed with the entire cast but the standout for me was Hohl because her Elinor has a very dramatic transformation and the scene where she finally reveals her heartbreak over Edward's engagement to Lucy Steele (Maryn Tueller) is incredibly charged and gave me goosebumps. A lot of the performances are informed by the characterizations in 1995 movie and I laughed out loud at Brian Douros as the overly exuberant Sir John Middleton, Rowena Greenwood as the busybody Mrs. Jennings, Nick Mathews as the disdainful Mr. Palmer, Daniel Summerstay as the clueless John Dashwood (the way the servants continually ignore him is a funny running bit), and Josh Augenstein as the obnoxious Robert Ferrars (his dancing at the ball is absolutely hilarious). I love the way this show is staged with large moving panels that are configured and reconfigured to become various locations and set pieces that are brought on and off stage very efficiently by the ensemble who are costumed as servants. The projections are atmospheric and immersive but they are very muted and I wish that they had been more vibrant. Finally, the period costumes are beautiful (I love the Regency silhouette) with lots of embellished fabrics (my favorite was a gown worn by Elinor with with a row of embroidered flowers down the front of the skirt). Jane Austen is always a good idea so I highly recommend getting a ticket to this show (go here). It runs on Fridays and Saturdays through March 7.

H is for Hawk

Yesterday I went to a matinee of H is for Hawk, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Helen Macdonald, and I found it to be incredibly moving.  Macdonald (Claire Foy) is a fellow at Cambridge University who is grief-stricken over the sudden death of her beloved father Alistair (Brendan Gleeson).  She is assaulted by memories of her father, especially their bird watching excursions together, so she decides to get a Eurasian goshawk, a particularly aggressive bird of prey, in order to keep these memories alive.  However, as she bonds with and trains the bird she names Mabel, she abandons her research and teaching responsibilities and avoids her worried family and friends.  It is only when she allows Mabel to hunt that she begins to understand the necessity of life and death in nature which leads to acceptance and healing.  This is a very powerful portrayal of grief and I was particularly struck by how the memories of her father would randomly overwhelm Helen when she least expected them because that is my own experience with grief over the death of my father.  Her interactions with Alistair, shown through flashbacks, are so poignant that I had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion (Gleeson gives a lovely performance).  I also loved the strangely compelling interactions between Helen and Mabel (I wonder how long some of these sequences took to film and how much training Foy received because they appear so authentic) and the beautiful cinematography as Mabel flies through the sky hunting for prey.  Foy gives an amazing performance, in my opinion, because, even though it is incredibly restrained, you understand everything that Helen is feeling just by her body language and facial expressions.  This is a very slow and introspective movie so it might not be for everyone but its themes resonated very deeply with me and I loved it.