Now that the air conditioning is working sporadically at Walkerspace (it’s disabled during the play and put back on during intermission) the only discomfort is sitting through this long and rather dull play by Rob Santana and its totally bizarre production.
Trying too hard to be different to bring the saga of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII up to the 21st century with a reality TV-like production helmed by the imaginative Jen Wineman THE KING”S WHORE suffers from too much superficial gloss.
Unfortunately, what is most memorable is the neon day-glo lemon/lime hued off kilter set designed by Deb O with a raised central platform that serves as bed, wrestling ring, birthing chamber, various rooms and the scaffold that ultimately beheads our heroine of sorts.
This is the inaugural offering by Starcatcher Productions whose executive producer Kate O’Phalen portrays Anne Boleyn. First mistake. She is simply miscast. As are a few of her supporting players, namely Carl Hendrick Louis as Henry VIII. They have no chemistry brewing between them and he is made to appear as some Hip Hop Rock Star whose accent comes as goes as does the air conditioning. Hand held fans are supplied by the staff if needed.
On the other hand we have Lauren Orkus as Mary, Anne’s sister who would have made a finer Anne. She is lovely. As is Claire Brownell as Marguerite with her French accent (she later portrays silly Jane Seymour and Lady Kingston in the Tower of London where Anne thinks she is Marguerite) and Laura Esposito as Catherine of Aragon with her Spanish accent. She is played as a hot spit fire of a woman scorned. Many liberties are taken with the characters and their historically accepted personalities but the story remains the same. A double page chart in the program describes the plot in words and pictures.
Slate Holmgren is a triple threat as Cardinal Wolsey, a prissy Henry Percy and Cromwell – all nicely defined with much needed humor supplied by Percy – Anne’s true love.
Two Ladies-in-waiting/maids Pippa (Rebecca Miller) and Agnes (Donna Augustin) spy from every corner and add little except length to the production which seems to be a combination of a faux French Feydeau farce and an MTV video with music that I found excellent (Jessica Paz) and nicely staged dance sequences. Costumes are a mixed bag – literally. They have to be seen to be appreciated. All in all, The King’s Whore is akin to Anne of a Thousand Days on steroids.
Through August 11th.
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