Tom Taylor's Two Cities

The British dramatist Tom Taylor is most famous for writing Our American Cousin, the comedy Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated.

However, Taylor also wrote the first adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities to be staged in London after the book was finished. (Adaptations of some other Dickens novels, such as Nicholas Nickleby, were sometimes staged even before the book was completed, when it was still coming out in installments.)

Taylor's adaptation begins with a prologue in 1762, in which the audience sees events that are only narrated in a document that appears much later in the book. Doctor Manette (originally played by James Vining) is summoned to an old house outside of Paris where he meets the Marquis of St. Evremond (Walter Lacy) and his disgraceful younger brother.

Both Manette and the Marquis show up again later in the play, somewhat older, but portrayed by the same actors in the original production. What I find interesting is that the actor playing the Marquis's brother then doubled as that character's son, Charles Darnay. An innocent victim of the aristocrats, Colette Dubois, was played by the famous actress Madame Celeste, who reappeared later as Colette's sister, the vengeful Madame Defarge.

Celeste was the manager of the Lyceum Theatre, where Taylor's play was first performed on January 30, 1860. According to publicity for the show, Dickens himself "in the kindest manner superintended the production." How much of a role Dickens actually played, I'm not sure, but Taylor definitely takes considerable liberties with the source material.

The first act shows Manette "recalled to life" in 1783, not 1775, as in the novel. The second act shows the height of the French Revolution in 1793, where Sydney Carton delivers his famous line about "a far, far better thing" while still imprisoned, not from the scaffold.

Still, the adaptation hits many of the high points in the book, even though it irons out a lot of its complexities and ambiguities.

Sunday in the Park with George

I’ve been visiting friends in Pittsburgh, and last night I had the opportunity to see Front Porch Theatricals’ production of Sunday in the Park with George at the New Hazlett Center for Performing Arts.

The New Hazlett doesn’t have the fly space to make set pieces entirely disappear like in the original production of this classic musical. The theatre also didn’t have the high-resolution projections used for technical wizardry in the more recent Broadway revival. However, director Rob James came up with some creative solutions to perform theatrical magic with the resources he had available.

Much of the credit probably belongs to scenic designer Johnmichael Bohach. In his versatile set, the tree frequently alluded to in the first act becomes part of the 20th-century art installation in the second before transforming back into a tree, all with help from an illuminating lighting design provided by Forrest Trimble. The costumes designed by Michelle Nowakowski elegantly evoke both the 1880s and the 1980s without feeling forced. (This was a welcome change from the Broadway revival which telegraphed the 1980s rather than portraying them authentically.)

All in all, I actually preferred this production to the Broadway revival with all its technical marvels. Saige Smith found a way to play Dot with charm and originality, but without constantly reminding us of Bernadette Peters, who not only originated the role but made it almost fully her own. Aaron Galligan-Stierle gave a colorful performance as George, making the artist fascinating to watch even as he makes questionable choices.

Stephen Sondheim deservedly receives credit for his magnificent music and lyrics in the piece, but James Lapine’s book is also a model for dialogue that’s both deeply emotional and surprisingly economical. Just a few lines can make a character come to life when played by a skilled actor, as Ben Nadler showed with the small role of Dennis, and Adelyne Anderson showed with the even smaller role of Elaine.

This production is running until August 24th. Many performances are selling out, so see it if you can. It’s a reminder that some of the best theatre in America is being done far outside of New York City.

The Lady From the Sea

When I found out that Hudson Classical Theater Company would be performing an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Lady From the Sea, I knew I'd want to see it.

I missed opening weekend since I was at the Shaw Symposium in Canada, which is perhaps ironic, since this adaptation by Hudson Classical's artistic director, Susane Lee, resets Ibsen's play in Canada, in a town along the Saint Lawrence.

Well, I finally caught up with the production last night, and I wasn't disappointed. Hudson Classical is best known for their outdoor productions of plays by William Shakespeare, including standout stagings of Richard II and Coriolanus. In addition to their recent Shakespearean triumphs, they did a much better job adapting Ibsen than some other productions I've seen recently, and Lee's script is faithful to the spirit of the original play.

Aya Ibaraki stars as Ellida, the second wife of the esteemed physician Dr. Wangel, played by Quint Spitzer. Ellida feels trapped between two worlds, longing for the freedom of the sea, as personified by a mysterious stranger (Drew Brock Baker), but also feeling gratitude and affection for her husband and the small town filled with summer tourists where she lives with him and his family.

Yes, it's definitely his family, not hers. Ellida's two stepdaughters don't exactly go all out to make her feel at home. The younger daughter Hilda, played by Katrina Dykstra, even plays a cruel joke on her, leaving Ellida to awkwardly accept flowers as if it's her birthday. The elder daughter Bolette, played by Maya Small, is more sympathetic, but still has trouble feeling much of anything for her stepmother.

The play relies on a mysterious sense of the supernatural, embodied by the stranger from Ellida's past who returns to collect on a promise made long ago. The production is skillfully directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith, so be sure to see it before it closes on August 17th.

Good Liars

Yesterday was the final day of the Shaw Symposium at Niagara-on-the-Lake. I was pleased to be able to attend the talks as well as plays produced by the Shaw Festival.

On Saturday, Gustavo Rodriguez Martin and Pilar Carretero Caro discussed a corpus-based analysis they did on the letters between Bernard Shaw and Pat Campbell. They wondered, among other things, if Shaw was actually experiencing the emotions he described, something a corpus-based analysis can't determine, as it is unable to detect irony.

Kay Li then spoke about Shaw's play Major Barbara and artificial intelligence. She discussed the challenges of training large language models to prevent hallucinations (in which AI returns factually incorrect information). Next, Audrey McNamara gave a talk on Shaw and the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he won 100 years ago in 2025, though the prize was not awarded until 2026, and Shaw did not receive his medal until 2027.

Since Saturday was Shaw's birthday, we all had cake to celebrate. Then, conference attendees were off to the Royal George Theatre (soon to be torn down in the name of progress) to see a matinee of Major Barbara starring Gabriella Sundar Singh, who is also appearing at the Shaw Festival in a number of roles in Gnit by Will Eno. Following the performance, we had a group discussion with Fiona Byrne, who played both Lady Britomart and Rummy Mitchens, and Andre Morin, who played Adolphus Cusins.

Saturday night, we went to see Dear Liar in the Spiegeltent, which was a wonderful venue. I had previously seen the play at Irish Rep, so I was less excited about it than Major Barbara. However, the play ended up being the highlight of the symposium. Marla McLean played Pat Campbell and Graeme Somerville played Shaw. The production was performed in the round, which generated a wonderful intimacy as the performers recited lines from the letters of two giants of early-twentieth-century British theatre.

Sunday morning, Alice Clapie discussed Shaw's physiological dramaturgy, quoting many of his letters to the actress Elizabeth Robins. Wan Jin then spoke about the novelist Eileen Chang's incorporation of Shaw's ideas into novels like The Rouge of the North and The Fall of the Pagoda, as well as her famous novella Love in a Fallen City. She argued that Chang's work captures the counter-oriental gaze Shaw had employed in his play Arms and the Man.

Toward the end of the Symposium, I chaired a session that included Dibasi Roy and Bandhuli Chattopadhyay. I'm back in New York now, but it's been an amazing past few days.

Missing the Magic

I'm in Niagara-on-the-Lake for the Shaw Symposium. Today, Dorothy Hadfield, the President of the International Shaw Society, welcomed us, and then Pragna Desai, Director of Community Engagement & Outreach for the Shaw Festival, gave a keynote address.

The Shaw Festival has a mandate to perform plays from the lifetime of Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and works in dialogue with those plays. The theatre is currently raising $150 million to replace the Royal George Theatre and to build two new campuses: an Artists' Village to house theatre professionals and a Center for Lifetime Creativity, which will serve the entire community.

During the keynote address, we also heard about another new initiative, Every Kid in Niagara, which has the goal of bringing all of the students in the Niagara region to see plays at the Shaw Festival at least twice over the course of their academic careers. In order to do this, the festival is partnering with local buses to ensure they have the vehicles (and drivers) necessary. The festival also plans to increase its programing for students.

After the keynote, we headed to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum, where Jennifer Buckley and Christopher Wixson led a discussion on Shaw's relationship to the play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, and how that same play inspired contemporary dramatist Will Eno to write his adaptation, Gnit. Eno's Gnit premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2013 and is now receiving its Canadian premiere at the Shaw Festival. Sadly, the magical play that inspired Shaw had the life sucked out of it by Eno's adaptation.

I just got back from seeing Gnit, which reminded me of Donmar Warehouse's production of Ibsen's The Lady From the Sea in a new version by Elinor Cook. In that version, the supernatural overtones of the mysterious sailor were eliminated, seriously weakening the play. Peer Gynt doesn't just have supernatural overtones, though. It is a full-on supernatural fantasy complete with trolls, the devil, and other mystical figures appearing on stage. Like Cook, Eno rationalizes everything, leaving only the husk of a once great play.

Incidentally, the Hudson Classical Theater Company in New York is opening their own adaptation of The Lady From the Sea this month, penned by Executive Artistic Director Susane Lee. I have higher hopes for that production. Until I see it, I'll have to content myself with other plays the Shaw Festival has on offer: Shaw's Major Barbara and the two-hander Dear Liar which dramatizes the writer's correspondence with Pat Campbell.

Tomorrow, I'll be seeing both of those, and attending talks by noted Shavians as the Shaw Symposium continues!

Back from Boston

I enjoyed the Dickens Symposium at Boston University last week, where I delivered a paper on theatrical audiences in the works of Charles Dickens.

Boston was a great location to have the symposium, as it was the American city Dickens was fond of most. It's also the birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe, author of the play Politan, as well as some more famous works. The city now has a statue of Poe across the street from Boston Common.

Most of the papers at the conference had nothing to do with drama, though a couple of them did relate Dickens to Poe. Elizabeth Bridgham related the Master Humphrey character who frames The Old Curiosity Shop to Poe's story "A Man of the Crowd" while Katie Bell related another tale published in Master Humphrey's Clock to the famous story "The Tell-Tale Heart."

It was also nice to meet Meoghan Cronin, who was able to tell me about theatre KAPOW in New Hampshire, and to meet up with some old acquaintances, including Jennifer Heine, Claire Woods, Jude Nixon, and Lillian Nayder. I also got to see some of my old stomping grounds in Boston, from when I lived there a quarter century ago. The city has changed, but not as much as New York has over that time.

After getting back from Boston, I was able to squeeze in some theatre, Melissa Maney's Hungry Women at SoHo Playhouse, and Death Becomes Her on Broadway. Tomorrow, I'm off to another symposium, this one sponsored by the International Shaw Society.

The Village Coquettes

Charles Dickens did not have fond memories of The Village Coquettes, an operetta he wrote with composer John Pyke Hullah.

When he was later asked if he owned a copy of it, he reportedly replied, "if I knew it was in my house and could not get rid of it in any other way, I would burn the wing of the house where it was."

Dickens's previous play, The Strange Gentleman, had been a success at the St. James Theatre, then under the direction of the famous tenor John Braham. That had been based on one of his stories in Sketches by Boz, though. The Village Coquettes was doing something decidedly different from his previous work.

The play takes place in an English village in the autumn of 1729. Setting the play more than a hundred years in the past allowed Dickens to present customs and mores considerably different from those of his own days. The plot involves two charming village girls who slight their accepted beaux in favor of a local squire and his foppish friend, Flam.

The character of Lucy was played by the soprano Elizabeth Rainforth, a relatively unknown actress who gained considerable attention for her performance. Lucy is betrothed to the humble farmer George, but gains the attentions of the squire. He urges her to forget George, but she still loves him, and sings some touching lyrics:

        Love is not a feeling to pass away,

        Like the balmy breath of a summer day;

        It is not--it cannot be--laid aside;

        It is not a thing to forget or hide.

        It clings to the heart, ah, woe is me!

        As the ivy clings to the old oak tree.

Lucy's cousin Rose is attached to another young man of humble origins, John, but is flattered by Flam, who is the villain of the piece. Rose admits she enjoys "a little flirtation as much as anyone" and defends her youthful enthusiasm for men in the song "Some Folks Who Have Grown Old."

Eventually, both young women come to realize that they're better off with simple men from the country rather than the rich squire and his unscrupulous city friend. Lucy later tells the squire "call me coquette, faithless, treacherous, deceitful, what you will" but she now sees that George is the "noblest heart, that ever woman won."

For his part, the squire realizes that his life has been dissipated by visits to crowded cities and sings "A Country Life" which has a pleasant and sentimental melody. This elevation of country life over urban values seems strange for Dickens, who wrote so memorably about cities.

After the plot resolves itself and Flam is sent on his way, the play ends with a dance and musical finale. Though the operetta is quite different from the novels that made Dickens famous, it speaks to the engagement the author had with the theatre.

Incidentally, I will be attending a symposium by the Dickens Society next week in Boston, and delivering a paper on the writer's portrayal of audiences. More on that to come!