By Grant Golden
The pleasing slice of Americana”Ah, Wilderness!” is the closest Eugene O’Neill ever came to writing a comedy.
The present production, part of the Irish Classical Theatre’s five-year O’Neill retrospective, has been directed by Greg Natale and plays weekends at the Andrews Theatre through Feb. 15. A traditional three-act play with a large cast and two intermissions, it weighs in at nearly three hours.
The production follows two days (one of them the Fourth of July) in the life of the Miller clan, their friends and associates, in a small town in Connecticut in 1906.
The major plotline concerns young Richard Miller, a sweet but angst-ridden teen, who has girl troubles brought on by his own socialist and bohemian posturing. Richard, by a fluke, ends up in the company of a “scarlet woman,” Belle, who attempts to introduce him to the Big World of Experience, with limited success.
This acting-out provokes the expected hailstorm of disapproval from the boy’s upstanding parents. Meanwhile, Uncle Sid, the gregarious but habitually inebriated black sheep of the family, returns to town, and takes yet another stab at courting the prim, heartbroken Lily Miller, Richard’s spinster aunt. Things work out semi-happily, as the moon rises and the play dissolves in reverie.
The cast of 15 (enormous by Buffalo standards) is uniformly competent, and there is some excellent character work on display here.
Louie Napoleon, a graduating senior at UB, is as fine and credible a Richard Miller as one could wish. Kudos also to Anne Roaldi, who successfully impersonates a tween — Richard’s ever-taunting little sister, Mildred. Kristen Tripp Kelly’s spinster aunt is full of both pain and affection, a beautifully judged portrayal.
Kelli Bocock Natale, as the nuturing but ever-fretful mother hen, shines particularly in Act III. Dan Walker is a solid Nat Miller, though I would have liked to see a little more “bark” from his benevolent patriarch. Richard Wesp, an odd choice for Uncle Sid, shows the depth of his talent here in a very creditable “stretch.” As Belle, the bad girl, Andrea Andolina livens up the action considerably after a rather tepid Act I. Her seduction scene with Louie Napoleon is arguably the best in the show.
Veteran director Greg Natale brings a lot of intelligence and a sure hand to this ambitious production. That said, a little judicious pruning of the script might well have been in order. Set designer Lynne Koscielniak does what she can with the difficult Andrews space; set changes are remarkably fluid. Sound designer Tom Makar has provided some turn-of-the-century classics for set changes — I only wish that more music could have been interpolated into the show.
I love the bittersweet quality of this play. It’s nostalgic, yes, a little antique perhaps, but never facile or maudlin. Kudos to the Irish Classical people for tackling it and doing such a darn nice job.
GRADE: A-
Grant Golden is a freelance reviewer from Buffalo.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Ah, Wilderness!” by Irish Classical Theatre Company
WHEN: Through Feb. 15
WHERE: Andrews Theatre, 625 Main St., Buffalo
MORE INFORMATION: Call 853-4282 or visit irishclassicaltheatre.com
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