Return to AARO 95-96
There is something at once exhilarating and disturbing when Lynn Redgrave, youngest daughter of the famed Shakespearean performer Sir Michael Redgrave, little sister to famed actress Vanessa Redgrave, and gifted actress in her own right, spends more than two hours lovingly and rippingly paying homage to her larger than life father through reminiscences and interwoven snippets of Shakespeare's scenes and soliloquies. The exhilaration comes from the interesting glances into her theatre-centered upbringing and her beautiful portrayals of some of the Bard's loveliest pieces. The disturbing part is the underlying antagonism that still seems to remain for this child dwarfed and nearly forgotten by her family. Something about Ms. Redgrave's Shakespeare For My Father seemed to belong more on the analyst's couch than on the Herberger stage.
While Ms. Redgrave's play is well-written, there is a feeling of exposé to this intricate piece, where the use of Shakespeare, while a wonderful chance to give an audience this talented actresses brilliant and poignant portrayals of such great characters as Hamlet, Juliet and Cleopatra, also seems to be a strangled cry for help from a daughter who has never felt better of herself than as the 'other actor in the family.' This talented, underused actress seems to be carrying around emotional pressures that weigh as much as the well-worn steamer trunks that she draws her props and costumes from.
For those who are not aware, Sir Michael Redgrave, Lynn's dad, was a contemporary of such British stage stars of the '40s, '50s and '60s as Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Noel Coward, and Sir John Gielgud. As Lynn explains, she was born into a long line of actors and actresses, and discovered such desires in herself around the time that she also discovered her growing lack of communication between herself and her deific father. As Lynn expounds about her growing Elektra complex, she seamlessly launches into scenes from Richard II, Hamlet and Twelfth Night, each tacitly linking to that moment in her life she's lamenting about.
For props, she uses simple things, such as a book, or a pillow, and for costumes, she adds shawls and scarves to her basic black outfit as befits each character she portrays in her life and her theatrical life. This one-woman show works well as a theatre piece, and her talent keeps some moments of near-boredom from becoming true detriments. It's only with the sheer amount of emotion that she seems to harbor about her father that things become a bit shaky.
This production is necessarily theatrical and brooding, as one should expect from an actress having been raised with so much theatre around her. There are moments, especially at the beginning of the second act, that are light, comedic, and enjoyable, but the ever-present face of her father, a photograph projected on a scrim that is always hovering behind her and to her right, draws her back into her spiraling self-flagellation and equal mixes of love, admiration, and betrayal.
Ms. Redgrave shines when she's moving through the various Shakespearean passages she's woven into the script to add texture to the ever running commentary of her own life. She is able to switch between the Bard's characters with a fluidity that is to be admired, even playing scenes of two or three characters by herself. When she launches into these sections, she holds the audience at rapt attention. She slips only when she adds pathos to the memoirs of her own rocky life.
The director, John Clark, Lynn's husband, has staged every movement, transition and rise in action near perfectly. In fact, the show seems almost a bit too perfect, with every movement, every gesture, every emotion arriving and departing in such a timely fashion as to almost call attention to itself. One must remember, though, that this production has played, on and off, around the country, since 1993, and even a great actress can fall into certain ruts, leaving nothing to chance.
Ms. Redgrave is a wonderful Shakespearean actress, a right she has earned despite the weight of her father's reputation. To watch her speaking the Bard's lines is a joy and treat. This is only somewhat brought down by the unmistakable feeling that this wonderful actress may not have realized that she has earned her reputation on her own merits, and not based solely on the merits of her father.
Production Details:
Shakespeare For My Father by Lynn Redgrave
Herberger Theatre, Phoenix
678-2222 or 252-8497
June 13th -23th, 1996
Return to AARO 95-96