Edmond Genest, Elizabeth Shepherd, Allison Mackie
While we are appreciative of the visit to Broadway of a current member of the United Kingdom's royal family, specifically Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, as well as by the presence of the more historic King Henry VIII and entourage in Wolf Hall, we can also see how America once saw fit to anoint the Barrymore family of actors as its own Royal Family. This is the title given to them somewhat audaciously and/or sarcastically by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber in 1927 in their raucous comedy which has enjoyed numerous revivals over the years. It is the opening play of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey season, and you should go have yourself a grand time.
The play is said to have been summarily disowned by the Barrymores, the ennobled theater family whose lives appeared to have been satirized. With considerable tongue-in-cheek the authors, in turn, claimed they never heard of the Barrymores.
Perhaps the esteemed matriarch of the Barrymores didn't take kindly to criticism about her family, but the rest of us can hardly keep from laughing at the lines and many flippant bon mots that punctuate the fast and often funny, often over-lapping dialogue. Perhaps it is a moot point whether or not the Barrymores themselves inspired this delicious play about the Cavendishes, a family of indomitable actors with insufferable egos.
I can't honestly say that everything this observer saw on the stage was as celebratory of the "oldest profession" as its often dotty and only occasionally disciplined disciples would like us to believe. But here we have a splendid company, under the direction of Bonnie J. Monte, that has rambunctiously captured the extravagantly familial flavor at the core of the play. It will, however, take some patience and a bit of background for the younger generation to fully appreciate this dynasty of theatrical dinosaurs — unlike many of the audience members at the well-attended mid-week performance I saw who might well have seen the original production.To read the complete review, please go to http://curtainup.com/royalfamilynj15.html
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue (at Lancaster Road) in Madison
For tickets ($32.00 - $62.00) call 973 - 408 - 5600
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