Rita Moran, Theater Critic, Ojai Valley News
Wit and wisdom are fruitful partners in Molière’s bounty of memorable plays. What they convey about life, as the French writer piercingly observed it, was true in the 17th century when he lived and has remained timely ever since.
Happily, The Ojai Art Center Theater’s sophisticated staff and bountifully skilled actors have quite a romp with the material they are bringing to colorful life through April 28.
Most vividly memorable is the performance by Cecil Sutton as the greedy Harpagon, a man who can’t see the forest of life around him as he snips away at the trees. His primary interest is money, and after that, dabbling with the live around him to make sure they don’t escape with any of his.
Sutton, rarely offstage for more than a few minutes, is the miserly man to the core, sheltering his funds, nudging or even shoving the next generation into alliances that best suit him. Heaven help the possibility that he’d consider what could make the next generation happy while he savors his own interests. Miser to the core, Sutton’s Harpagon proves adept as well in his nonstop physical depiction and the creepy zest he pours into the comic performance. Even off-stage and tromping through an entire aisle of laughing fans, Sutton maintains the tipsy-crazy tone of the tight-fisted old guy.
While Sutton is the focus of the plot, he is surrounded by actors who also embrace their roles, no matter how small, providing vivid depictions of the assorted family members and acquaintances. The stage itself contributes to the fun with its own comic surprises throughout the show, but particularly in the last act.
Another outstanding talent in the cast is Lee Ann Manley who shines as the matchmaker Frosine, the
sophisticated woman initially charged with bringing the elderly Harpagon and the young Marianne (Jessi May Stevenson) to wedded bliss, at least potentially for him. But Frosine is clever enough to adapt when it becomes clear that is not going to happen. Kallie Ann O’Connor is a fresh and delightful Elise, one poised enough to bide her time until she unites with her true love, Valere, played by Jeremy Bryson with just the right bit of mystery hinting at his yet-to-be-revealed past.
It’s a cast of a dozen actors, all of whom take their amusing roles seriously, no matter how brief their moments may be. Some bolster the element of surprise, others fill in plot details, but altogether they make the play dance with sprightly wit. And naturally, Molière-style, they demonstrate bits of wisdom about human foibles.
Filling out the cast are Ron Feltner as cook and coachman; Len Klaif as Anselme, older suitor to Elise; Michael McCarthy as La Flèche; Daniel Mitchell as Harpagon’s son Cleante; Don Gaidano; Doug
Knott; and Bill Spellman. Theater veteran Spellman plays dual roles, the chief of police and Madame (sic) Claude.
Bringing all this talent together are producer-director Paul Sulzman, co-producer Lee Ann Manley, artistic director Richard Camp and a raft of very skilled technicians.
It’s a “Miser” that will leave you feeling a bit richer for having seen it.