Clarissant

Reviewed by Julia Stier
Little Candle Productions
Through December 23

Little Candle Productions conjures up a magical medieval tale in this world premiere of Clarissant, written by Hailey Bachrach and directed by Allison Darby Gorjian. In this story, inspired by the tales of King Arthur, the past is rehashed, as title character Clarissant attempts to uncover a curse she believes has been placed on her family.

Clarissant (Paula Deming) is the reluctant new queen of her family’s kingdom. Her brothers, the famous Knights of the Round Table — Sir Agravain (Dawn Alden), Sir Gawain (Olivia Choate), Sir Gaheris (Renèe Torchio MacDonald), Sir Gareth (Kym Allen) and Mordred (Whitton Frank) — are all dead, lost in the battle between Lancelot and King Arthur. Now, with the help of her two sisters-in-law, Lynette (Linzi Graham) and Lyonor (Karissa McKinney), Clarissant is turning to magic to summon up stories from her family’s history in order to eradicate the “family curse.”

Each performer playing one of her brothers undertakes two roles. Alden plays both Agravain and Guinevere, and Choate doubles as Lancelot. These two actresses especially do a fantastic job of differentiating between their two characters. Alden is impatient and testy as Agravain, but controlled and reserved as Guinevere. Choate plays the loyal Gawain with complete sincerity, but allows some cockiness to slip into her version of Lancelot. Allen’s youthful and ambitious Gareth makes her a bright light onstage, and Frank is a pleasure to watch as the rascally Mordred. Allen and Frank double as Ragnelle and King Arthur, respectively. McKinney is ever patient and kind as the widow Lyonor (her son, Mac McKinney, is the only male in the cast, and plays a young servant). Graham adds bite as the feisty Lynette, and Deming plays into Clarissant’s fear and indecisiveness.

The message of the play is clear and strong — that self-acceptance allows us the power to create our own stories. However, some of the dialogue is repetitive, and the sheer number of stories enacted slows the pace. The show could afford to lose a couple of vignettes, and the message might be more apparent if it were hinted at it earlier.

A cleverly designed set (Kate Woodruff and Allison Darby Gorjian) features a large tree, whose branches double as swords. Fight choreographer David Chrzanowski utilizes these sword/branches to stage some great sword-fighting scenes. Betsy Roth’s costumes consist of crocheted “chain mail,” furs, and painted knee and elbow pads that hint at armor; altogether, these elements successfully create a rustic, medieval look for each character.

Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Dec. 23. Littlecandleproductions.com. Running time: about 2 hours, with a 10-minute intermission.