Photo courtesy of Door Shakespeare
Kay Allmand as "Mrs. Page" in Door Shakespeare's production of J.M. Barrie's "Rosalind."
Door Shakespeare presents a small stage theatrical experience online this month with a deeply engaging production of J.M. Barrie’s Rosalind. Shot in black and white with a small ensemble of actors each working alone, the production is a tight, little 45-minute drama. The nature of age, time truth and artifice are explored in the span of a single one-hour drama for television. Barrie packed a great deal of depth into a drama largely focused on two people. Director Michael Stebbins and Film Editor Ryan Schabach have cleverly arranged the drama in a series of tight shots carefully framed to gently craft the illusion of two strangers discovering just how much (and how little) they really know about each other.
Kay Allmand conjures wisdom and vitality in the role of Mrs. Page: a woman vacationing in the country. As the drama opens, she is expressing great joy at being middle-aged with the owner of the boarding house in which she is vacationing. Rhonda Rae Busch serves as stern contrast to Allmand in the role of a woman firmly rooted in her own age. The two women’s conversation is cut short by a knock at the door. It is a passing traveler by the name of Charles Roche. Alexander Johnson carries an earthy passion about him in the role of Charles, who has come round to the home to ask for a moment’s warmth before continuing on his journey. As Mrs. Page awakens from rest, she and Charles glide into a conversation about matters of the heart which swiftly slide into very deep matters of love, life and time itself. Stebbins, Schabach and company keep the drama cascading in nuanced close-ups powerful enough to make the entire conversation pass like a dream.
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Door Shakespeare’s production of Rosalind continues through Sep. 13 online at doorshakespeare.com, where tickets and further information are available.
To read more theater reviews and previews, click here.
To read more articles by Russ Bickerstaff, click here.
