The Global Film Village

Orson Welles’ Moby Dick – Rehearsed at Lyric Theatre

// August 10th, 2011 // Stage Play

Kate McManus, Andrew Patton, Dustin Seavey, Richard Cox, Steve Madar, Michael Welch; Center: James Whitmore Jr.; Bottom: Andre Verderame (l.), Rob Fabiani. Photo by Robert Fabiani

by Marla Lewin

The Whitmore Eclectic Theatre specializes in heartfelt often experimental theatre. Their current play is by Moby Dick Rehearsed by Orson Welles and imagines the story of Moby Dick presented in its own contemporary time. Herman Melville wrote the book in 1851 and Welles decided to imagine how people of that time reacted to it. Set in 1860 this was America just prior to the Civil War. A time of great debates and transition from an agrarian society to industrialization. Lamps still burned whale oil. Southerners still owned slaves and Northern merchant seaman hunted whales and transported goods around the world on sailing ships with voyages that lasted for years at a time.

Welles tale unfolds in a small mid-Atlantic theatre company where the cast is preparing to perform King Lear when the director known as the Governor informs them they will now rehearse Moby Dick. This provides us with the opportunity to not only observe the great whaling story, but witness how a play might have been preformed by a resourceful company without modern  special effects. This predates projection, modern lighting and elaborate high tech sets. The play is pared down to its essence and must depend on the brilliance of its words and the performances of its actors. Being a great epic Moby Dick has many characters that are required to tell the story, so actors must perform several parts as well as playing the actors in the play. Often this can be a problem, but this cast is up to the task and the audience doesn’t become lost.

James Whitmore Jr. in Moby Dick- Rehearsed Photo by Robert Fabiani

For much of the time the crew is at sea, and we must accept that they are alone on the vast ocean searching for this almost mythological creature with just charts, the stars and their own skill to aid them. Being a rehearsal we accept that the set isn’t complete and we make do when benches double for small boats. The sails are fixed in place(beams and scraps of cloth approximate them), but the crew is constantly at work trimming and adjusting the sails. There are sound effects created just off stage that the audience watches being created and live music that adapts to the action of the performers. And then there is the dialogue, faithful to the original book and magnificent in invoking both the story and period.

This is a play to be savored for its theatricality. It is perfect for adults and children. It brings history alive without being preachy or bombarding us with effects. Go see it and help support this theatre and its company.

This is the first play in the company’s new season and  is directed by Aliah Whitmore. Aliah i s the granddaughter of legenday actor James Whitmore. She gets to direct her dad James Whitmore Jr. who plays the Governor the director of the play within the play and Ahab.  The fine crew includes: (in alphabetical order) Richard Cox, Tim deZarn, Rob Fabiani, Steve Madar, Kate McManus, Andrew Patton, Dustin Seavey., Michael Welch, Aliah Whitmore, and James Whitmore Jr.

The Whitmore Eclectic will next present “Betrayed” by George Packer; and “The Book of Liz” by Amy and David Sedaris.

At the Lyric Theatre, 520 N. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

August 4- August 28, 2011. Thurs.- Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3.

ADMISSION: $20.

RESERVATIONS: (818) 826-3609.