Ladylike Laughs Interplayers Performs ‘Ladies Of The Camillias’
You might call this a situation comedy, yet rarely does a situation comedy feature the two most famous actresses of the 19th century, Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse.
“The Ladies of the Camellias,” which opens Friday night at the Interplayers Ensemble, is based on an actual encounter between these two legendary figures. Somewhere around the turn of the century, Bernhardt was playing “Le Dame Aux Camelias” at her theater in Paris. Duse was touring the same play and had nowhere to perform in Paris. Bernhardt graciously granted Duse her theater. Thus it happened that these two rivals presented back-to-back productions of the same play in the same theater.
This is the stuff that cat-fights are made of.
Playwright Lillian Garret-Groag, a member of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre company, used this premise as a springboard for a comic fantasy. In her hands, a bomb-carrying Russian anarchist arrives and threatens to blow up the theater, thus adding another conflict to the mix.
The show is billed as being “rich with physical humor and sparkling silliness.”
But director Bob Welch said the show also has some serious themes for contemporary audiences.
“It deals with current attitudes about arts in general and theater in particular, and it also has something to say about the ‘star system,’ ” said Welch.
A little background on these two actresses:
Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a French actress who scored huge successes on the stages of Paris, London and New York. Her voice was said to have the “silver sound of running water.” She went on to own and manage a number of theaters, and once she even played the title role in “Hamlet.”
Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) was an Italian actress who toured the world and captivated such important fans as Anton Chekhov and George Bernard Shaw. She was noted for the beauty of her movement and the grace of her gestures.
“The Ladies of the Camellias” was first presented in 1988 in a community theater in Van Nuys. From there, through numerous revisions, it went to the Old Globe and then in 1992 to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
In the Interplayers version, Patt Blem plays Bernhardt and Kelly Lloyd plays Duse. Frank Medina plays the bomb-tossing Russian.
Other performers include Jonn Jorgensen, Cheyenne Wilbur, Rebecca Hankoff, Michael Weaver, Richard R. Hamblin and John Bogar.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THEATER The Interplayers Ensemble will present “The Ladies of the Camellias” Friday through Dec. 21. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday shows are at 7:30 p.m., and matinee performances will be at 2 p.m. on Nov. 30, Dec. 4 and Dec. 7. Tickets range from $12.60 to $15.75; for reservations, call 455-PLAY. Interplayers is located at 174 S. Howard.