Weak Plot Hampers ‘Ladies Of Camellias’

“The Ladies of the Camellias” Saturday, Nov. 30, Interplayers Ensemble

There’s plenty to like in “The Ladies of the Camellias.”

The wit is rapid-fire and literate. How often do you get to hear jokes about Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw?

Also, the acting is excellent throughout, especially in the lead roles of Sarah Bernhardt (Patt Blem) and Eleonora Duse (Kelly Lloyd).

And for anyone interested in theater, this comedy abounds with in-jokes about actors, actresses, directors, audiences, and practically everyone else connected with the dramatic arts. It is, after all, based on a supposed meeting between the 19th century’s two most famous actresses. Just watching the way they greet each other - arms outstretched, as if playing for the balcony - is worth the price of admission.

However, it has one problem, which gets bigger as the play goes along. This play has little or no plot.

Playwright Lillian Garrett-Groag has supplied the script with enough interesting characters and wit to keep it amusing through the first act and some of the second. I was enjoying myself immensely for the first hour and even the second. It was that third hour that got to me. Including intermission, this comedy runs nearly three hours.

I shouldn’t say it has no plot. Garrett-Groag has tried to add some conflict by introducing a bomb-carrying anarchist onto the stage of Bernhardt’s theater. This at least gives everyone something to do, even if it is simply to argue with the anarchist. However, the anarchist doesn’t actually do anything except complain about these people, as well as repeat, ad nauseum, that he is going to blow them up.

The big development of the second act is that we learn that this Russian anarchist is actually a Russian director. Somehow, that doesn’t seem to be such an earth-shattering discovery. It is yet another theatrical in-joke, of which this play has already exceeded the limit.

I would have vastly preferred to see more fireworks between Bernhardt and Duse, to have seen them actually performing and/or sabotaging each other’s performance. If this play had gone that direction, it could have become another “Noises Off.”

Instead, we get a non sequitur appearance of Benoit Constant Coquelin as Cyrano de Bergerac (Michael Weaver), who runs in for no apparent reason and stages a swordfight. It was about at this point in the play that my patience finally wore thin.

Don’t get me wrong: I thought Weaver was funny and hammy in this part. I just didn’t understand why a man dressed as Cyrano would run in from some other theater and engage in a swordfight with a man holding a pistol and a bomb.

I even liked Frank Medina as the anarchist, even though he was saddled with having to be a cartoon character.

John Bogar was particularly strong as the actor Monsieur Worms (yes, the name alone gets laughs). Jonn Jorgenson was also excellent as the long-suffering Alexandre Dumas fils, the author of “La Dame Aux Camelias.”

And Kelly Lloyd deserves special mention for her smoldering, deadserious portrayal of Eleonora Duse. Lloyd captures the passion that made Duse such a sensation in her time.

, DataTimes MEMO: “The Ladies of the Camellias” continues through Dec. 21. Call 455-PLAY for information.