Theater Review

Tom Titus

George Bernard Shaw’s ‘The Philanderer’ is truly a play for the ‘90s --

the 1890s, that is. Only through the magic of South Coast Repertory’s

immaculate production does it become a relevant exercise for audiences

braced for the new millennium.

Visiting the realm of Shaw -- which SCR has done with regularity over the

past 35 years -- requires a bit of mental conditioning. The playwright

places his characters on soap boxes (literally, in the case of ‘The

Philanderer’) to expound on his philosophies of socialism, feminism and

just about any other available ‘ism.’

In director David Emmes’ admirable staging, set against the backdrop of

John Iacovelli’s three imposing settings, this little-known work from the

playwright’s earliest period becomes an elegant treatise on the art of

romance. An exceedingly capable cast breathes passionate life into Shaw’s

19th century characters.

The play’s raciest scene is performed as the first lights go up,

revealing the title character (Douglas Weston) engaged in a passionate

embrace with his new love (Kaitlin Hopkins) before being interrupted by

an old flame (Nancy Bell) who refuses to be extinguished. This is the

closest Shaw comes to visceral depictions before shifting into a

philosophical gear.

The fathers of both ladies (SCR veterans Richard Doyle and Don Took)

arrive to lend a new dimension to the triangle, and soon the scene shifts

to the domain of another playwright, Henrik Ibsen, a Shaw contemporary

venerated by the playwright and virtually all of his characters.

The ‘Ibsen Club,’ to which most of the principals belong, promotes the

social values and ideals of Hedda Gabler and Nora Torvald, emancipated

women far ahead of their time.

There we encounter the play’s most interesting character, the incredibly

self-centered doctor (Francois Giroday) who pursues Bell when not

agonizing that modern medicine has debunked one of his disease

discoveries (never mind that it relieves Doyle’s character of the specter

of imminent termination).

Also aboard is Bell’s mannish younger sister (Lynsey Mcleod), who has

taken Ibsenism to its illogical conclusion.

This excellent cast tackles Shaw’s intellectual gyrations and renders

them an enjoyable experience -- a formidable task performed with

seemingly effortless grace.

Weston bobs and weaves like a promising middleweight as he sidesteps

Bell’s affections in his pursuit of Hopkins’ while Bell gives vent to the

play’s only true element of emotionalism and does so beautifully.

Doyle’s retired military officer rages against the dying of the light

wonderfully before realizing the fates aren’t stacked against him, while

Took’s low-key responses are delivered in sharp counterpoint. Giroday

takes his insufferably pompous character to ridiculous lengths and Mcleod

is a snappish caricature of Shaw’s ‘manly woman.’

‘The Philanderer’ is a splendid opening gambit in South Coast Repertory’s

36th season, glittering with professional polish in all departments. Shaw

never ran out of words or ideas, and SCR seemingly has yet to run out of

Shaw’s plays.

CUTLINE: Douglas Weston is caught between the woman he pursues (Kaitlin

Hopkins, at right) and the one who pursues him (Nancy Bell) in George

Bernard Shaw’s ‘The Philanderer’ at South Coast Repertory.

WHAT: ‘The Philanderer’WHERE: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center

Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 8,

Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 through Oct. 10

HOW MUCH: $28 to $47

PHONE: (714) 708-5555