The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/ae/2005/11/18/a_design_for_living

November 18, 2005 > Arts & Entertainment > Players lack chemistry, showcase strong technical ‘Design’

Players lack chemistry, showcase strong technical ‘Design’

By Julia Bursten | Thresher Editorial Staff

Design, indeed. The Rice Players’ fall production, Design for Living, has a script that thrives on art, characters hell-bent on designing alternative moral fashions for themselves and, most prominently, a set and technical design modern Broadway producers could — and should — envy.

The show, written by Noel Coward in 1933 as a Broadway vehicle for himself and two friends, remains as edgy today as it was then, when it debuted amidst the Depression Era revolution in American theater. The premise is fairly simple: two guys, one girl … no pizza place. The male leads, Leo (Brown College freshman William Hochstettler) and Otto (music graduate student Sean Bayntun) are both artists, and Gilda (Wiess College sophomore Haley Richardson) is their best friend, sometimes-roommate and muse. The three are the epitome of a menage a trios: The men wrestle over Gilda and then, heartbroken at her sudden disappearance, settle on each other for a while, and viewers cannot help but wonder if love was never really made for just two people to share.

As the house lights dim, the Players’ opening of Design does what its Broadway counterpart could not have: coordinates the darkening aisles with a digital slide show of the three friends goofing off together in Paris and a nostalgic, giddy soundtrack that toes the lines between rock, jazz and folk.

The effect is visually stunning in itself, and positively overwhelming when contrasted with the low-tech, practical set of a couch, chairs and a table. Behind these props, though, is a constantly evolving bouquet of paintings ranging from Victorian-esque cityscapes to details of elegant architecture. The paintings change as the trio flits from city to city across Western Europe and ends up in New York. These floating hangings offset the stage’s tangle of doors and windows — a few oversize gold picture frames interchangeably serve as both sorts of entryways and make a lovely border for Gilda as she poses in front of the boys.

Director Troy Scheid (Baker ‘02) and her technical stage crew should be applauded for this visual imagery, and viewers who are distracted by its unsettling beauty need not feel guilty — the play exists much more for looks than for dialogue.

The acting is not bad, it just is not the highlight of the show. The chemistry between Hochstettler, Bayntun and Richardson never quite seems to solidify and many lines are spoken in a terrible rush — whether this is the fault of nervous actors or an intentional reaction to the many unnerving situations in the play is unclear.

In this chaotic troupe, one character stands out as the godfatherly and mildly disapproving patron of the pack. Hanszen College senior Jon Levy plays Ernst, a gentlemanly art dealer and friend of the trio, and he delivers an unmatchedly calm performance that focuses both cast and audience members on the story unfolding in front of them.

Design for Living is an exceptional show that addresses interplay between relationships and living arrangements in a manner that is especially relevant after Proposition 2, which bans gay marriage, was recently ratified and added to the Texas Constitution. Its brash and crude approach to reactions against alternative lifestyles contrasts garishly with the art gallery-worthy set. The show is undoubtedly worth seeing, even after the second intermission drags it to a hefty two and a half hours. But be forewarned: The well-designed framework of the show will probably draw more applause than the art of the acting deserves.

End of article

Back to top