Carpenter Square Theatre opened their 23rd season tonight with the Oklahoma Premier of "The Graduate," a stage adaptation of Charles Webb's novel and the 1967 screenplay that made Dustin Hoffman a household name. I was required to attend for my playwriting class, which is giving me plenty of excuses to see theatre. This was actually the first time I've been to a theatre since I left the professional theatre more than three years ago.
The overall production by Carpenter Square was satisfying. The play fits well in the round as it requires, nay demands, sparse scenery. The lack of elaborate scenic elements goes well with the short scenes that make quantum jumps in time and distance. (There are in fact ten different locations in the play, a huge number for live theatre.) The drawback to the many locations in the play was that the stage could only hold, at most, two locations at a time, one on one side of the stage and one on the other. That meant that the audience spent large chunks of time in the dark, a loathsome position for any grumpy theatre person.
The acting was what you would expect from a provincial non-prophet theatre. It was sometimes good and sometimes bad. David Mays, who played Benjamin (the main character) did a very fine job, especially considering the big shoes he had to fill taking on a role made famous by Dustin Hoffman. Vikki Simer made an acceptable, though not exceptionally attractive, Mrs. Robinson She played the drunk scenes very well, and many of the touching moment were well played as well but she didn't always make a great seductress and her voice could grate when she wasn't watching. Both Braddock parents (Terry Veal and Doobie Potter)left much too be desired. They approached the roles like character bits which worked okay for Mrs. Braddock but for Mr Braddock (Veal) the choice was a disaster. Rob Freedman fared only slightly better as Mr. Robinson, though his comic timing was impeccable and he did shine in moments, such as the confrontation scene after he learns of Benjamin's affair with his wife. He also did very well with the axe wielding scene in which he chops down the door of a church. Victoria Stahl did a wonderful job with the too short role of Elaine. Some of her emotion shifts seemed to sudden but that was as much a writing mistake as an acting one. Certainly this play required an extreme amount of courage from the actors as it was ripe with underwear and sex scenes, all in an intimate space where the audience is close enough to see body hair and thigh dimples peeking out.
Again, overall the production was pleasing.It could have used the tightening up of cleaner directing and desperately needed some dead space taken out. It also could have been organized better, with it's hour and a half first act and second half of under an hour. It was, however, good enough to ease my unexplainable discomfort of being in a theatre. As Charissa and I discussed, going into the theatre felt a little like running into an ex-girlfriend unexpectedly a few months after a nasty breakup. But it's good to be watching again. And I definitely won't miss "The Picnic" when Carpenter Square does it in the Spring.
NOT HARDING APPROPRIATE:
My formal undergraduate training from a private Christian university has taught be to wring my hands over whether or not the audience is offended. That said, I was very worried when in the fist act, Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson had elicit (but covered) sex right at my feet. My fears were eliviated when the extrememly old woman sitting next to be said, "Oh my. She's on top," and laughed herself silly. The actors rolled over and she said, "she had gorgeous hair." Heart, rest thyself and pound no more with worry about my fellow audience members.
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