Saturday, April 7, 1984

Honolulu Advertiser

Triple Combination provides glow in production of 'Harvey'

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek

All the gentle daffiness of Mary Chase's 'Harvey' comes through in a low-key production by the Army Hawaii Community Theater. The show is directed by Joe Craver and features Tom Jerke and Jo Pruden--a triple combination that made sparks fly in a production of 'The Rainmaker' several months ago. The 'Harvey' success comes from quite a different style, but the combination of Jerke, Pruden and Craver works once more, and makes an uneven production glow with warmth.

Harvey, of course, is the 6-foot-tall whit rabbit that can only be seen by Elwood P. Dowd. Jerke plays Elwood in the Jimmy Stewart tradition of good-natured earnestness, with just a tinge of bewilderment. It is a workmanlike performance by Jerke, who underplays the character just the right amount.

It takes a good deal of confidence for a performer to allow success to arise from a low-key approach. Jerke never pushes the role, but rides it with only a minimym of control. The effect, clearly announces his arrival as a craftsman and an actor with a wide range.

Jo Pruden plays Elwood's beleagured sister Veta Louise. Veta desperately wants to keep up a society life, but finds it nearly impossible to do with a brother who insists on introducting his invisible friend. At her wit's end, she attempts to have Elwood committed to a mental hospital. Pruden makes the role a fine texture of upper-crustiness sprinkled over a soft center. There is a gracious desperation in her performance that carries over from her work as Amanda in 'The Glass Menagerie,' but bent several degrees into the realm of genuine comedy. Her Veta Louise is something of a Marx Brothers' matron, tilting up her chin as she comes apart at the seams. Veta comes apart a bit too convincingly and ends up in the therapy tank as the institution releases Elwood with an apology.

The rest of the show becomes a slow turning of the tables as the seemingly adjusted characters lose their control and the affable looney turns out to have the best fix on life. The final questions of who is the most sane and wheather Elwood should be forced back into normalcy are answered before the script gets around to asking them.

Tom Triggs, also from the 'Rainmaker' cast, does a fine job as the know-it-all psychiatrist who comes unglued, and Brenda Brummer does a nice bit in a tiny role as a society lady. Richard Steber is lecherous and coarse as the medic who makes a play for Veta's dauther Myrtle Mae-- played in curious wooden, honking style by Donna Barnett. Pat Walsh and Pam Miles are a mis-matched pair as the doctor/nurse bickering love interest, and Albina Ascher and George Hearn attempt some small character roles.

Stage sets by Richard and D. Steber are effective, although a bit on the bright and shiny side, and are changed, with near remarkable speed and relative quiet by a stage crew deserving of a standing ovation. Pam See's costumes are very, very good and very, very 1940s.

Friday, April 6, 1984

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

'Harvey' Still hops Along Very Nicely

By Pierre Bowman

Mary Chase's 'Harvey,' which opened last night in a production by the Army Hawaii Community Theater, is a comedy classic touched with both a moral and warmth. It stands up nicely to the test of time. Last night's opening performace, under the direction of Joe Craver, missed only a beat or two.

Harvey, of course, is a giant rabbit who no one can see except Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood and Harvey are soulmates and drinking buddies who know almost every bar in town inside out. Harvey is also able to anticipate the immediate future, a bit like Radar in 'M*A*S*H.'

Elwood and Harvey make life a trial for Veta and Myrtle Mae, respectively sister and niece to Elwood. After all, how is a lady to throw a decent tea if her brother's introducing folks to an invisible giant rabbit? Furthermore, how is a girl to have a romantic future if her uncle is the town's head nut? And still further, it's a real muddle because Elwood owns the house--and Veta and Myrtle Mae apparently have nowhere else to go. Actually, Veta figures the whole think out: The solution isn't moving to a new house; instead, Elwood ought to move--by being committeed to the looney bin.

A thorough muddle ensues at the nut farm. Romantic subplots unfold, one between Myrtle Mae and a male nurse, another between a female nurse and the second-banana psychiatrist. Five scenes in three acts eventually yield a happy ending. For this kind of business to really work, you need a cast that can play it pretty straight. Happily, Craver has assembled a group that mostly meets this demand.

Tom Jerke, as Elwood, displays a fine, detached quality of vague pleasantness that lies like a glaze over the character's essential lunacy. Pleasantness is surely one of the most treacherous moods for an actor to create on stage; it's so close to boredom. Yet Jerke's Elwood is neither boring nor bland. His performance invests the role with suble delight that eventually convinces an audience that Harvey may well be much more than a figment of the imagination-- or the product of too much drinking.

Jo Pruden, as Veta, is an even match for Jerke. Her performance creates a woman out of whole cloth, who goes from fluffy social values to the gritty determination to preserve the things that really count, like kindness and affection. Pruden also displays a flair for physical comedy that has seldom been seen in the many roles she has created on island stages. In addition, she is a distinctly attractive feast for the eyes in the excellent '40s-style costumes created by Pam See.

Tom Triggs makes the most of his role as head psychiatrist, investing it first with bluster then with a touch of manic glee as he comes to believe in Harvey. Pam Miles, as his nurse, is a shimmer of effective sexual energy. Pat Walsh, as the second-banana psychiatrist, provides her with a nicely gawky foil. In a small but pivotal role as a cab driver, Cerrell Billups does fine, effective work. The only major part that doesn't quite hit the mark is Myrtle Mae, played by Donna Barnett, who makes the role into a ditsy caricature that's quite out of synch with the rest of the players.

The production is mounted on two full sets representing Elwood's library and the psychiatric hospital. They were designed by Richard and D. Steber and are handsome and effective and of much higher quality than is usual at Schofield.

It is also noteworthy that the little theater, which has often been uncomfortably warm, now has 11 ceiling fans which solve the heat problem perfectly. The cans are a touch that could benefit Tenney and Manoa Valley Theaters greatly.

Friday, June 8, 1984

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Strong Army cast Does 'Mutiny' Proud

By Pierre Bowman

Herman Wouk's 'The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial' is a courtroom drama of unusual substance, and a production by Army Hawaii Theater Guild that opened last night does it proud. The play, adapted from Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, has made Captain Queeg a synonym for neurosis. But it is more than an exploration of a U.S. naval officer unbalanced in a crisis. It is a richly woven tapestry of mean and their relationships and their ideals, explored in a context of both the military and the general world. It is also written with uncommon power, so that words alone take an audience out of the courtroom setting to see--in the imagination--the peril and drama of a ship in a typhoon.

The subject of the court-martial is not Captain Queeg but young Lieutenant Maryk, who relieved Queeg of his command that night in the typhoon. Yet it is Queeg who becomes the man on trial even though he is not charged with a crime.

Most courtroom dramas would be content with this kind of a turn-about. But Wouk takes things farther and tells a story that is more than black and white. Ultimately, in the play's stunning denoument, there are shadings of subtle grays, like a fine black-and-white photograph. As a package, the play raises questions of ethics and responsibility that make it thought-provoking and stimulating.

Director R. J. Galvan has assembled a strong cast and propels the players swiftly through action.

Richard Pellett, as Queeg, may be a trifle broad as he reveals his neurosis. Nevertheless, he delivers a performance that simultaneously chills and generates a degree of empathy.

Jerry Tracy, as the defence attorney, never misses an opportunity to build his characterization. He creates a man rocketed by his professional obligation as a lawyer. Then he peels away this veneer, revealing an encompassing quality of humanity, showing a man torn between duty and ethics. Tracy is focused and powerful.

Dean Turner, as the prosecutor, brings avuncular dignity and canny modulation to a large role that could turn talky with a lesser actor. John Giese, as Maryk, does a fine job with his role, finding a subtle path between cockiness and righteousness, all within a lavish Texas accent.

In lesser roles, quality performances abound. Of particular note is James L. Smith, Jr., who brings a remarkable quality of comic energy to the role of a slightly dim signalman who is called to the witness stand. Ken Burtness, Lee Gray and Jim French--each portraying expert witnesses--all deport themselves with aplomb. French is particularly effective in his turn as a psychiatrist.

Saturday, June 9, 1984

Honolulu Advertiser

Army goes to 'Court'--and loses

By Joseph T. Rosmiarek

It's an Army/Navy struggle as the Army Hawaii Community Theater comes to grips with Herman Wouk's 'The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial' at the Schofield Barracks Theater. The Army doesn't win. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play dramatizes the trial of a ship's executive officer for relieving his captain of command during a war-time typhoon. The defendant can escape a verdict of mutiny only by proving that his superior officer was mentally incompetent.

The courtroom format locks the play into a static visual mode, with everyone firmly in their seats as the lawyers trade turns at posturing. The action must come from the dialogue, as the succeeding witnesses give their testimony. The climax is eventually reached as Captain Queeg's composure crumbles under a vigorous attack by the defense attorney. A bit of tunabout patriotism and the curtain falls.

The play is a combination of many things. Most obviously it is a psychological study of a man who has risen to power and control despite a debilitating personal paranoia. It's also an exploration of loyalty--to an individual, to authority, to country and to principle. When those loyalties come into conflict, the drama begins to surface.

For the production to work, there must be strong characterizations and vivid interplay. Jerry Tracy and Dean Turner enchange shouts as the opposing counsels and Richard Pellett as Queeg is melting frosting instead of crumbling granite. John Giese as the defendant is an uncertain mixture of thickheaded dupe and steadfast hero--with emphasis on the first ingredient.

We need to see Queeg as a real tough cookie--a selfish and petty bastard, certainly, but one with a hard veneer. Pellett makes the role too soft from the start, a better chaplain than captain. We also need to feel that Lt. Maryk acted heroically in deposing Queeg, and wasn't simply the stubborn pawn that comes across in Giese's performance.

Jerry Tracy's defense attorney is a troubled moralist whose volume increases to indicate moments of high feeling. As the prosecutor, Dean Turner fumbles for lines as often as for motivation.

R. J. Galvan directs the production, and has decided to invite members of the community to sit in at each performance for the nonspeaking roles of members of the court. The opening night honors went to representatives of the Hawaii Performing Arts Company, who conducted themselves honorably.

Karen Palmer's costumes and Joe Craver's stage set are appropriately military, and consequently low in eye appeal.