Acting Carries "Things We Do For Love"

By Sue Pascoe, Staff Writer

2009-11-19
The real reason to see the new Theatre Palisades production, 'Things We Do For Love,' is the actors.

  In this four-character play at the Pierson Playhouse, directed by Michael Macready and produced by Cindy Dellinger, there is not one misstep. A single woman, Barbara Trapes (Mary Dryden), owns a flat in London and rents the lower level to Gilbert Fleet (Skip Pipo). The upper level is rented to an old school chum, Nikki Wickstead (Kristen Hansen), and her new lover, Hamish Alexander (Michael Keith Allen).

  Trapes, 40, says she is quite happy with her life, although she has never been romantically involved. She likes that she doesn't have to pick up after anyone, that she finds things exactly where she left them. There are hints that she is in love with her boss but that her attentions have gone unnoticed.

  Her downstairs renter, Fleet, is a widower, and it is quite obvious that is he is smitten with his landlord.

  When Wickstead arrives at the flat, she tells Trapes that she has left her abusive husband and has now found true love with a man who treats her well. She divulges that she has idolized Trapes ever since they met at a girl's boarding school many years ago.

  The loathing between Wickstead's lover and Trapes is apparent from their first meeting, but, as Shakespeare wrote in 'Hamlet,' 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'

  British playwright Alan Ayckbourn wrote 'Things We Do For Love' in 1997, and it originally premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theater in Scarborough, where he is also the artistic director. 'Things' opened in London in 1998.

  In a 1997 newspaper interview, Ayckbourn said: 'It's like a lot of my shows, in that I think it's quite dark, and in the end quite upsetting. There are people who sit there and laugh quite unconcernedly; I look at them rather quizzically and wonder where they've been. I always say you enjoy my plays more if you've been round the circuit a couple of times.'

  I guess I'm a person who has been 'round the circuit a couple of times,' because even though 'Things' has comic moments, I would characterize this as drama rather than comedy. Some topics, such as hurting people, aren't something I enjoy watching.

  But in this production, it is the acting, which is, exquisite and reaches perfection, and that is what would entice me to see this play again. Pipo's character comes from within. As an actor, he has made his art invisible, which means that as audience members, we feel the pain that he doesn't show. We care about this person, even though the playwright seemingly tosses him aside as inconsequential. Dryden's delivery of lines is introspective, amusing and, at times, offhand, but the actress gives depth to her character, giving an outstanding performance. Hansen is a 'wounded' person, but rallies with optimism and never asks for our pity, so that when the play ends, we feel bad for her. Allen, as the center of the triangle, appears strong, but perhaps he's just as confused as the rest of us when it comes to love'and we feel that in his performance.

  Macready has encouraged the actors to be larger than life, which works with comedies and especially in this play. Simply put, it is excellent directional work.

  Sherman Wayne, who designed the three-level set, has probably just designed himself another theater award as well. The lower level (Pipo's flat) allows us to see just the actor's head. The upper level (rented by Wickstead and Alexander) allows us just to see the actors' legs and a bed.

  Sherry Coon should be complimented for her first-rate costume design.

  This top-notch production runs through December 13 at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets: (310) 454-1970 or visit: www.theatrepalisades.org.