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The False Servant
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Odyssey Theatre/Evidence Room
Through Sept. 6
Every theater company has its ups and downs. It’s the nature of artistic endeavor. Evidence Room, celebrating its 20th anniversary as a company, has an admirable history of successful and award-winning plays, most recently with its producing partner, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. Unfortunately, their new show, Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Pierre Marivaux’s play The False Servant, is a misfire.
In 18th-century Paris, a wealthy young woman has disguised herself as a Cavalier (Chastity Dotson) to discover if the man she loves, Lélio (Christian Leffler), is worthy of her. Her male impersonation works perfectly, and Lélio takes the Cavalier into his confidence. Lélio is contracted to be married to the Countess (Dorie Barton), but he’d rather enjoy the wealth of his other girlfriend, whom he doesn’t know he’s currently talking to. He asks the Cavalier to seduce the Countess to get him out of the contract, but the false Cavalier is planning a revenge of her own.
Dotson (who is distractingly dressed to look just like 80s-era Prince, floppy cuffs and pencil mustache and all) is convincing and amusing as the Cavalier, but the character as written seems so unmoved by her beloved’s treachery or her own immoral actions that it’s difficult to have any emotional attachment. Leffler is solid as Lélio, but the character is a one-note villain. Barton brings a haughty charm to the Countess, but again the character is so cold that it’s hard to care about what happens to her. Barry Del Sherman offers moments of sly humor as Trivelin, and Mathew Bazulka is quite funny as the greedy Arlequin, displaying great comedic energy and style.
Bart DeLorenzo’s direction lacks his usual flair for staging and visual creativity – the actors basically stand around on Frederica Nascimento’s bland staircase set. The several songs feel like unwelcome intrusions. The play itself has problems, however, and whether this is the fault of Crimp’s adaptation or Marivaux’s original is hard to determine. The main concern is that for a farce it isn’t very funny, and as a drama it isn’t very compelling. You never even learn the real name of the protagonist, and an opening monologue by Trivelin goes on so long it seems he’s going to be the main character, which he very much is not.
Odyssey Theatre/Evidence Room, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., W.L.A.; Fri-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Sept. 6. (310) 477-2055, www.OdysseyTheatre.com
