Word: bronia
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Marat/Sade is so intrinsically exciting, and TCB's acting so good, that the play is exhaustingly effective. John Coe (Herald), Frank Cassidy (Coulmier) and Bronia Stefan (Marat's mistress Simonne) deserve mention. Roberta Collinge and Josephine Lane highlight the chorus, and the full-throated Katherine Garnett (who drools) very nearly takes the show. Go, if you think you can Brook it. But hope David Wheeler tightens up Act I by tonight, when I'm going again...
...Benedict and Richards, along with Bronia Stefan's insufferable but accurate portrayal of an American woman, have essentially static roles. The only character given a chance to change is Burris De Benning's Ferdinand, the "very young man" of the title. He gets to change from an overserious young man given to posing to a slightly more mature man, overserious and given to posing. De Benning ages the four years well enough but by the last scene I was no longer interested...
...same calibre of acting and direction is bestowed on the more substantial piece, Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache. This one-acter contains a scriptful of challenging subtleties which the Theatre Company converts into highly entertaining drama. Bronia Stefan and Paul Benedict sculpture their roles flawlessly, David Wheeler paces the play smoothly, while music and an ingeniously designed set accent mood and action effectively...
...other major role, that of Lavinia, is handled adequately by Bronia Stefan. On opening night, however, tragedy struck again in the two very minor parts. Jody Claflin (who, according to the program, "began her acting career when she played the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland at the age of seven") bungled completely her brief appearance as the Nurse-Secretary. And Timothy Affleck was just as inept as a Caterer's Man. (The program tells us that he "marched at the head of the town parade in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1949.") As usual, the Theatre Company comes up with good sets...
Unfortunately, there is no subtlety or coherence in the acting. Bronia Stefan, as the nurse, plays too broadly. She seems to be Blanche du Bois and Maggie the Cat rolled into one, but by parodying Tennessee Williams (something Williams himself must learn to avoid) she is not playing Edward Albee. Her self-conscious and mannered acting conflicts with the play's style. A characterization, such as Ernest McKinnon's Jack, built by alternating laughing and mumbling, evokes nothing more than the character of a laugher and a mumbler. This effect may be what the actor strived...