By Ric Wellwood
The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake has opened two more productions for its summer season, one at the Court House Theatre and one at the Royal George.
At the courthouse is an interesting and often amusing production of Shaw's comedy "Too True to Be Good". From the opening scene when William Vickers groans his way through the role of a sick microbe, the audience is expecting something unusual to happen and, of course, it does. This play is really three plays in one, with one plot line only remotely connecting to the next. In a way, it's like watching three one-act plays, each of which contains several Shaw messages about life, society and family.
I won't even begin to describe the plots, but you should know that the company is up to form in handling the material with a minimum of tedium. Nicole Underhay has firmly established herself as a major young star in the company and she accomplishes a difficult task by appearing sick and homely. As with most Shaw productions, the cast works as a tight ensemble, with some special work from Norman Browning late in the production. It is always difficult to handle Shaw's long monologues, but each member of the cast manages to survive them. A treat in "Too True" is the design, particularly the costumes and the third act set.
Over at the Royal George, the Festival celebrated a world premier of a play developed from H.G. Well's classic novel, "The Invisible Man". The play is remarkably trtue to the original material and so the title character remains a remote and inaccessible man with an unnatural urge to control events and other people. Peter Krantz does a fine job of playing an unlikable person, and Jenny L. Wright departs from her usual comic work to create a sympathetic heroine who once loved the invisible man but is now being stalked.
The best elements of this premiere are the special effects, which stun and frequently delight the audience, most of whom are trying to figure out "how'd they do that?" I can't say that the Invisible Man will ever make it as theatrical literature, but the production entertains and stimulates. My wife and I talked for some time about the story and the relationships presented at the George. The show has a cast of more than twenty, and it speaks well of Neil Munro's direction that he manages to use the small stage to great effect. About four weeks from now, the Shaw Festival will open three more productions and I will keep you posted.
