In December, Max & Louie Productions presented Ken Page’s Sublime Intimacy. Somewhat biographic, it was the second of Page’s creations I’ve had the pleasure to see. The basic plot of is one of friends reminiscing about the dancers they had known and loved. All the dancers were represented in the one figure of Alfredo Solivan (playing Michael, Steve, Devin and Patrick), who communicated only with his body the entire production. Each friend experienced intimacy with the dancer in a different way.
For Katharine (the lovely Bethany Barr), Michael is someone she has known since she was 10, and she experiences her intimacy through friendship and unrequited love. For Gene (Michael Cassidy Flynn), his intimacy with Steve lives only in his imagination, while Don’s (John Flack) intimacy with Devin is through written communication and Tim (J. Samuel Davis) experiences his relationship with Patrick as exquisite and sublime loss through missed opportunities.
The show was billed as a “play with dance,” and Solivan’s gorgeous movement informed much of the relationships. The dialogue had moments that felt a bit like a Lifetime movie, but the actors’ talents kept the words fresh and poignant. Certainly the opportunity to see the extremely talented Flack and Davis on stage together was a high point. Between this show, and the earlier offering of The Killing of Sister George, Max & Louie is setting a high standard in town for good theater.
The Rep recently opened The Lion in Winter, which plays through Jan. 31. This play is one of my favorites, and I am a big fan of the 1968 movie with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. Unfortunately, as with last season’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, this production suffers by too much similarity to the film. It’s a shame, too, as the on-stage talent is immense, and the actors might have found more colors listening to their own voices.
The play includes some good scenes and lovely costumes, although there are some transgressions that are odd. In the first act, Eleanor (the celebrated Carol Schultz) dons a knit surcoat that has a tattered, worn look to the edges; it seems wrong for a queen’s costume. Far from the movie version of King Henry, Jeffrey King adopts a modernity of delivery that feels out of context; a constant shambling step that is supposed to indicate age and a wounded leg seem incongruous.
These odd bits contrast with a beautiful scene between Eleanor and the king’s young mistress, Alais (Angela Janas), as they recollect their former, tender relationship. It was a poignant scene played exquisitely by both women. The Lion in Winter also is a tremendously funny script in many places, and the comedy was certainly brought to the fore in this production. Even with the flaws, it is a show worth seeing.
on the marquee
» Newsies | Now – Jan. 31 | Fabulous Fox
» Shining City | Jan. 29 – Feb. 14 | Upstream Theater
» American Idiot | March 3 – 26 | New Line Theatre
Pictured: Reginald Pierre, Bethany Barr, John Flack, Michael Cassidy Flynn in Sublime Intimacy
Photo: John Lamb