It seemed simple enough: Pay a skilled magician exorbitant amounts of money to show visions of your son, whom you banished 15 years ago but now seek out in your old age. Sure it’s straightforward – but it’s never fun unless you’ve got those layers of complexity.
And boy, are those layers fun.
Before winning the Pulitzer Prize for Angels in America, Tony Kushner freely adapted L’Illusion Comique from legendary French playwright Pierre Corneille. The Illusion is shorter than its predecessor – only two acts from five – and takes many liberties with the storyline.
But Kushner kept the core of the play the same. Like its inspiration, The Illusion remains a play within a play about the love of an old man searching for his son.
The Department of Theatre takes on this well-crafted play in its own brilliantly created production, seizing every moment of comedic timing and dramatic climaxes that Kushner provides in his script.
Directed by Mitchell Hébert, The Illusion sends all the right chills up your spine and provides opportune moments to laugh while adding just the perfect amount of magic and fantasy.
Hébert’s attention to detail adds clever moments in the play, making the production uniquely his and all the more memorable. Touches of modernity, including a GPS and Chinese takeout, are wonderful surprises and proof that theater can never get too old.
The play, though in modern English, is almost Shakespearean in its approach but skillfully executed by the cast. The power in The Illusion is its little nuances – the smart humor intertwined with quick dialogue that keeps the audience on their toes.
Kushner pushes the conceptual boundaries of the play within a play. And intuitive to its complex nature, The Illusion requires a talented cast ready to create a believable world of illusions and stories.
Michael Saltzman as the aging Pridamont holds his own against Adriene Brathwaite as the cunning and slick Alcandre, the magician from whom the father seeks help. Aaron Bliden, as Alcandre’s deaf and mute servant, rightfully deserves much of the praise, however, needing few words to deftly portray his character.
But beyond the father and magician, it is the story of the banished son and his life after losing his father that dominates much of the story. And it is a rather tumultuous life he leads, full of love triangles, epic fight scenes and adultery.
Though we enjoy the sparring between Pridamont’s son (Mark David Halpern) and his rival (Matt Sparacino), it is undoubtedly Zachary Fernebok as the lovesick Spaniard who truly owns the stage in this production. Though poor Matamore fails miserably to get the girl, he manages to steal our hearts – and many of our laughs – anyway.
The strong cast chemistry is the key and the production would never have been as successful as it was without it. From the meddling maid (Nevie Brooks) to the neurotic love interest (Liz Brown), each role is fully developed and fully convincing. We loathe, love and laugh at just the right times.
Everything, it seems, is working for Hébert’s production. Well-chosen music and lighting create chilling effects of the mystery inherent in magic. The costumes, designed by Kristy Leigh Hall, are beautifully crafted, rich in texture and color that keep the eyes easily entertained.
And that’s the key word with this production: easy. Despite the play’s complexities, Hébert’s cast and production team just made everything look so effortless and damn near flawless.
Hébert and company have managed to create a deeply moving story beyond the surface and one that, despite its fantastical premises, we believe if only for just those two hours. As we switch endlessly between the present and the past, we are guided through every step, taking us along not just a journey of a man and his son, but a story about love, reality and the meaning of, well, just about everything.
The Illusion runs through May 2 at the Kogod Theatre in CSPAC. Show times are tomorrow through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 for students and $25 for the general public.
dnhan@umd.edu
