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A Thousand Clowns – Intiman review
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A Thousand Clowns – Intiman
May 15 - June 17
"A Thousand Clowns is yet further proof that Seattle continues to be a fantastic city to live in if you love live theatre."
Herb
Sari Ketter, who staged Intiman’s acclaimed 2008 production of The Diary of Anne Frank, has crafted a thoroughly watchable and entertaining stage play, assisted by a strong cast and a thoughtful set. The Child Welfare Board is examining the fitness for parentage of Murray Burns, who eschews all contact with the real, outside world. When they threaten to remove his nephew Nick from his household, he is forced to allow the world he despises into his cocoon.
Matthew Boston takes the lead as Murray Burns, a self-absorbed comedy writer, who refuses to conform to the aura of conventionality surrounding him. Murray lives with his 12-year-old nephew Nick (Nick Robinson), who attends a school for clever children. Matthew worked with Sari Ketter last year on Anne Frank and seems completely comfortable with her guidance. This left him to concentrate on the lines rather than the play, and
I like Nick Robinson. On my first ever reviewing visit to the Intiman, Nick played Jem Finch in the American Cycle production of To Kill a Mocking Bird. Not only was the youngster outstanding in that, but I met him after the show and he is a wonderfully grounded and self-effacing young man. He’s just wonderfully pleasant to talk to and can converse very adultly about his craft. So with my bias out there, I have to say that Nick was outstanding once again in A Thousand Clowns. He shows an ability to deliver comedy, to time his one-liners to perfection and play something he isn’t in real life, a smart-ass precocious child. He works well with Matthew Boston and they both conveyed well the unique relationship the two characters have in the play. Somewhere out there, there’s probably an awful TV sitcom being written that will pay Nick’s bills for the rest of his life! In the meantime, let’s hope he continues to progress as a stage actor because he has a fine future.
There is a strong supporting cast two of whom I saw in the ACT’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Bradford Farwell is superb as the child welfare officer, Albert Amundson, who cannot cope with the outlandish personality of Murray Burns. It’s a good part and I admire Farwell for not overdoing it and suffocating the other actors on the stage. Albert Amundson would be an easy part to overact, and Farwell skillfully avoids it, recalling that he has a lesser role in Act 2 and the play will have to survive mostly without Amundson.
Tim Hyland and Julie Jessneck complete the cast. I’ve never seen Julie (Sandra Markowitz) before and the role is difficult as it has to rely on being made to cry by Amundson in the first half and infuriated by Murray Burns in the second. As a character, Sandra Markowitz is mostly reacting emotionally to the behaviour of others. One compliment to Julie is that as the play went on, she became more comfortable with the New York accent the entire cast donned, - so much so, that by the end of the play, she probably had it down pat better than anyone. Tim Hyland plays jovial children’s entertainer Leo Herman, aka “Chuckles the Chipmunk”, and horrendously overacts. But that’s exactly what the part demands, and he does well in making Murray Burns' unconventionality look justifiable.
This is overall a far more successful and enjoyable adaptation than the previous one. Good actors deliver good lines on a good set. All the comedic lines engendered laughter from the audience and a hard-working cast did justice to Ms Ketter’s vision and ability. A Thousand Clowns is yet further proof that Seattle continues to be a fantastic city to live in if you love live theatre.
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