New England Review: Ludwig's 'Shakespeare in Hollywood'

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston's presentation of "Shakespeare in Hollywood" is a delightful romp through a land of enchantment. The leading rompers are Christopher Chew (Oberon) and Ilyse Robbins (Puck), strangers in a strange land (Hollywood 1934/1935), who are obviously enjoying themselves -- often at the expense of the other characters.

The cast features a bouquet of recognizable Boston area players who come out smelling like roses. The scenes where they are under the spell of a magical flower which causes them to be smitten with the first person they see are uproarious. Special kudos to Peter Carey (in the role of the egomaniacal Will Hays) who first lays eyes upon himself in the mirror and goes on to express homage to himself to the nth degree.

It is also in these scenes where we recognize the hand of playwright Ken Ludwig as we know it from his earlier works such as "Lend Me a Tenor." "Shakespeare" is not as farcical, but the layering of the words of the Bard over the more customary Hollywood-style dialogue is both artistically and cleverly done. The play has basis in certain facts of 1930's Hollywood. The talkies were burgeoning and the works of Shakespeare provided a font of material. Although they were "box office poison," these films were often made to provide a prestigious vehicle for the mistresses or wives of studio heads. The real-life stage director Max Reinhardt (played by Ken Baltin) came to Hollywood to direct "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for Warner Brothers Pictures in 1934. Other characters in Ludwig's play who were part of that film and era include Jack Warner (Robert Saoud), Dick Powell (Ben Lambert), Jimmy Cagney (Bob DeVivo), Joe E. Brown (David Krinitt), and Louella Parsons (Margaret Ann Brady). And all of this takes place under the shroud of the Hays Production Code which was, for all intents and purposes, the precursor to today's motion picture ratings guide. Beyond these basic facts, there is not a lot of story to the story, but Director Spiro Veloudos has succeeded in providing a most entertaining afternoon (evening) of theater. He gets wonderful performances from the entire cast and because they appear to be having a great deal of fun, so does the audience. Ilyse Robbins doubled as Choreographer and infused her own portrayal of Puck with a swirling joie de vivre.

Chew relishes his role as King of the Fairies and shows his range after appearing earlier this season in "A Little Night Music" (Lyric) and "Johnny Guitar" (SpeakEasy Stage), for which he received the 2004 IRNE Award for Best Actor. Caroline deLima and Elizabeth Hayes are both excellent leading women, but deLima has greater latitude to have fun with her ditzy blonde mistress to studio mogul Warner.

The scenic design was spare, but worked to set the scenes in the forest and the Warner Estate. Costumes reflected the periods of the Hollywood 30's, as well as the Shakespearean era.

For anyone who wants some painless lessons in Shakespeare and some good laughs at the expense of the Hollywood of old, Ludwig and Lyric provide the ticket.