Martin Kildare, JoBeth Williams, and Peter Strauss (Photo by Jim Cox)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
El Portal Theatre
Through November 5
RECOMMENDED
Watching Love Among the Ruins at the El Portal Theatre is a lot like unearthing a crusty time capsule and uncovering the Theater of Yesteryear. It’s hard to imagine a more retro theatrical experience.
Based on James Costigan’s award winning 1975 television film starring Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, Ruins has been adapted for the stage by veteran television producers James G. Hirsch and Robert A. Papazian.
Waves of nostalgia will likely wash over you during this ideally realized production, which features sumptuous design elements and crackling direction by Michael Arabian.
Yet, athough the play is kept carefully in period and despite Hirsch and Papazian’s judicious trimming, portions may rankle contemporary audiences.
Initially produced last year at the Laguna Playhouse, this current iteration once again features JoBeth Williams (Poltergeist; The Big Chill) as Jessica Medlicott, the legendary but now retired stage star who is being sued for breach of promise, and Peter Strauss (Rich Man Poor Man; The Jericho Mile) as Sir Arthur Granville-Jones, the eminent barrister who has agreed to defend her.
Williams and Strauss have primarily established their reputations in television and film, but dig into their bios and you learn that both have roots in the theater — experience reflected in their engaging turns here. Williams expertly personifies her aging diva, whose willfulness and flamboyance cover deeper currents, while Strauss is perfectly on point as the “confirmed bachelor” whose stuffy exterior masks an ardent romantic who still hasn’t gotten over his apparent, long-ago jilting by the woman he must now defend.
Hale, fit and attractive, the two leads may arguably appear a bit youthful to portray these attenuated lovers, who ultimately retrieve their romance from the “ruins” of their youth in a hyper-sentimentalized but nonetheless satisfying denouement. But as solid performers with the requisite marquee value to draw audiences, they more than fill the bill.
The problematic content comes with Sir Arthur’s summation to the jury (all male — after all, this is 1934.). Although we struggle to accept his assertions as simply part of the 1930s zeitgeist, his argument about how the liaison between Jessica Medlicott and her supposedly jilted fiancé, the decades-younger Lt. Albert Pratt (C.J. Blaine Eldred), is categorically repugnant, grates on our ears, as does Sir Arthur’s further exhortations that such an “unnatural” union would necessarily preclude the blessed begetting of offspring.
Still, that’s a quibble in light of this production’s many virtues, not the least of which is Arabian’s typically assured staging. Handsome design elements — Jared A. Sayeg’s lighting, Bruce Landon Yauger’s sound, Kate Bergh’s costumes, and, most notably, Stephen GIfford’s breathtaking sets — are eye-candy of the highest order, while a superlative supporting cast, which includes Tony Abatemarco, Gigi Bermingham, Martin Kildare, Nima Dabestani, Amir Talai and Wendy Worthington, make their individual marks in this star vehicle.
Indeed, in an era of scrupulously “woke” theater, Ruins may seem like a throwback, but although it may not challenge your brain cells or spark impassioned intellectual arguments after you exit the theater, the play succeeds as pure entertainment. That, in itself, needs no apologies or excuses. If you are an afficionado of old school theater, done to a tee, Ruins may be your ticket — a thoroughly enjoyable saunter down memory lane.
El Portal Theatre, 5969 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Wed., 2 & 8 pm; Thur.-Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 3 & 8 pm; Sun., 1:30 and 6:30 pm; thru Nov. 5. (818) 508-4200. https://loveamongtheruins.net 1 hour 50 minutes with 15 minute intermission.
