Word: clemenson
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Leontes (Chris Clemenson) sits on this throne in the opening few scenes, his profile facing the audience, as the rest of the actors celebrate the King of Bohemia's arrival. This presentation immediately gives the audience the notion that this man must have something to hide. When Leontes finally speaks, the hidden becomes obvious--his jealousy wells to the surface. He even doubts at this point that Mamillius, his heir...
...only is Clemenson captivating to watch, but his command of Shakespeare's language is a rarity. He rules not only the language but the space around him. When he says "stars," the stars twinkle in the ceiling of the Adams House dining hall. Clemenson's acting has no gimmicks and no cliches--his performance is a tour de force of sheer talent and intelligence...
...ONLY PERFORMANCE that approaches Clemenson's is Grace Shobet's courageous Paulina, and the scenes between Shohet and Clemenson are the best in the play. Shohet outshines Kim Bendheim (Hermione), who is distractingly nervous in the opening scene but rallies to embody virtue, as Shakespeare intended. Bendheim is particularly strong in her trial scene, where Redford's blocking is also at its best--simply but effectively showing the relative virtues of the characters. Hermione stands on a small box above all her accusers; with their backs to the audience...
Which leaves Chris Clemenson, or the real tragedy of On the Lam. Clemenson is a hugely talented actor who can trigger hysteria with any of a dozen subtle expressions or inflections. Predictably, he does not seem all that happy with his role in this show--he ends up like Olivier in any of his recent roles, desperately mugging and overacting to compensate for the script--and maybe a little resentful, a little angry with himself for getting involved in all this. Actually, it's a lot like watching Olivier host Saturday Night Live. Worse, Borowitz and his court...
...WHAT ELSE are you going to do on a Friday night? It is, after all, only a dollar, which makes it, at worst, the cheapest two hours of punishment in Boston, There's Chris Clemenson: talent sometimes peeks its head out of the quicksand. You know you'll laugh and you know you'll sleep, and I advise you to ingest the sort of central nervous depressants that enhance both. Besides, who knows? Maybe John Simon will be there with his Luger...