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"The Violet Hour" review for San Diegans

By Larry Knowles

May 29, 2006

San Diego--“The Violet Hour,” the play currently on offer at the Old Globe, has been reviewed in mainstream and alternative media, and, really, if you want to read about the themes in the play, just go online and search out “The” “Violet” “Hour.” I mean, really, what can I add about the plot that you haven’t already read in our large, venerable daily newspaper or in an online search.

The play has been deconstructed pretty well, and you don’t really want to read my high school English paper on What I Learned at the Violet Hour, so why don’t we get to the distinguishing characteristics of this particular performance at the Old Globe.

After all, if you’re reading this, you live in the San Diego area and you’re thinking about going to the play. (Now, it’s entirely possible you’re from far away, have never heard of the Old Globe Theater, know nothing of Strippergate and the pension plan crisis, and googled “Violet Hour” to come up with the usual analysis of the play rather than the production. This article isn’t for you, friend.)

You want to know about quality, the performances put in by these actors, set design, and perhaps a sprinkling of audience reaction. So I’ll give it to you and leave the English papers to the real theater writers.

But first I have to give you the basic—basic—plot rundown:

§         The year is 1919 and this young guy named John Seavering, about 24, 25 years old, looks kind of like Justin Timberlake, starts his own publishing company. He’s got enough dough to publish one book, and has to choose between submissions from his college classmate, Denny, and his black lover, Jessie.

§         “A strange machine appears outside his office.” (This sentence is in quotations because every writeup of the play will use this exact line. Since none of us writers know what the machine is or how it got there, we can’t write in the active voice and vary our diction. We’re hamstrung.) The machine, an impressive fax copier, begins spitting out huge amounts of paper. The pages foretell world history up to the 1990’s.

§         Seavering reads the tome and learns what becomes of Denny, Jessie, and himself. He knows what book he’s chosen and the effect the choice has on all of them.

Now, that’s what you’ll find on any web site, in any review of the play. None of that is unique to the Old Globe and helps you, the San Diego theater-goer, make an informed decision on whether to see the performance.

However, here’s the local juice. Let’s start with the actors.

Lucas Hall plays John Pace Seavering. The role calls for Hall to be an uptight, proud young WASP (and Princeton grad), and the actor, who’s appeared in soaps “The Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns,” fills the role well. In the opening minutes of the performance, Hall’s Seavering seemed to talk at the other characters rather than to them. (I know a few Princeton grads who do the same thing, though, so the behavior may be entirely in character.)

T. Scott Cunningham provides comic relief as Gidger, Seavering’s prissy employee. The role calls for great energy as Gidger goes into a tizzy—and stays there—over the new fax-copier that sits outside the office. Cunningham conjures a great neurotic energy that enlivens every scene he’s in. His character isn’t for everyone, though. Gidger is so gay—in both senses of the word—that he may grate on those with a low tolerance for effeminate prigs.

Patch Darragh’s character Denny requires the most emotional range. Denny, like most aspiring writers, is an emotional wreck. He’s all over the board. One minute, he’s full of optimism, the next self-pity and pessimism. He’s laughing, then he’s weeping. He’s angry, he’s sad,…he’s suicidal. Then he’s happy again. Denny is one capricious dude, and Darragh rolls with the whims of his character with ease.

Christen Simon plays Jessie Brewster, black jazz singer and Seavering’s lover, with the right amount of shrewd confidence, and Kristen Bush appears a natural fit for Rosamund Plinth, the patrician fiancée of hapless Denny.

The lighting design, coordinated by Matt Richards, served the script well. Throughout the performance, characters were framed by the gloaming outside the office building. At one point, Rosamund sits awash in rays from the setting sun. The lighting in the play was as varied and capricious as its characters.

As for audience reaction at The Old Globe, laughter resonated throughout the performance. The only uncomfortable moment came when Cunningham and Bush lit up cigarettes while sauntering about piles of loose paper. One errant ash and the play really would have been capricious.

The Violet Hour plays through June 25^th at The Old Globe in Balboa Park. 619-231-1941. www.oldglobe.org.

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