Celimene and the Cardinal
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Cast: Hollis Resnik (Celimene), Kevin Gudahl (Alceste).
Rampal intriguingly picks up the story 20 years later of the relationship between Alceste and Celimene that began in "The Misanthrope." As "Celimene and the Cardinal" begins, Celimene is anxiously awaiting Alceste's arrival in the salon of her Parisian home, curious to find out the purpose of his call.
In the intervening decades, the haughty Alceste has risen in the ecclesiastical ranks to cardinal, and he arrives at Celimene's home arrayed in the sumptuous raiment of the church. Alceste tells Celimene he has come to see her after all these years because of a troublesome dream that raised concerns about her spiritual well-being.
As Rampal's play unfolds, somewhat meanderingly, the conversation touches on an array of other topics as well: the virtues of prayer, Celimene's marriage, her subsequent infidelity and the children she has been busy raising.
There are confessions of past feelings that still linger, and both Alceste and Celimene realize that whatever drew them together long ago -- love or some other indefinable connection -- still exerts a strong pull over them now.
But in the end, Rampal's bittersweet work suggests that the same life forces that came between Celimene and Alceste 20 years earlier continue to create an unbridgeable gap.
In the pleasingly glib, rhymed English version by British translator Ranjit Bolt, "Celimene and the Cardinal" has a number of endearingly sentimental, sweetly amusing moments, as well as a few scenes of sharp conflict. But even at an intermissionless 90 minutes, the work seems a little drawn out for what Rampal has to tell us about his two characters.
The evening's longueurs also are attributable in part to the performance of Hollis Resnik as the coquettish Celimene. An able performer in many Chicago musical productions, Resnik does not have the acting range to fully flesh out the character and command the stage. She resorts too frequently to babyish-sounding vocal mannerisms that don't work in this role.
Kevin Gudahl, on the other hand, provides a deep and often moving portrayal of Alceste, even at his most priggish. His facial expressions and his phrasing are always interesting. With an actress better matched to Gudahl's skills, "Celimene and the Cardinal" might have truly soared.
Charles Newell's direction is a little too understated for a work that much of the time is a showy discourse between two colorful characters.
John Culbert's less-is-more set effectively evokes a 17th-century Parisian salon with just an elegant mirrored fireplace, a chair and a footstool. Culbert's lighting -- mostly ranging from golden yellow to bright white -- draws attention to itself only when there is a notable shift in the script's emotional tenor. Nan Cibula-Jenkins' costumes are elegant and of the period.
Sets, lighting, John Culbert; costumes, Nan Cibula-Jenkins; production stage manager, Maggie O'Donnell. Artistic director, Newell; managing director, Sandra Karuschak. Opened, reviewed Sept. 25, 1995, at Court Theater; 251 seats; $ 29 top. Running time: 1 HOUR, 30 MIN.
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