STAGE WEST
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page

Theater reviews

Stage West

Barking general clings to faded glory

1/1/2014

0 Comments

 
​Typical of a hardened, blustery military man, Major-General Daniel Edgar Sickles embodies gruff, irascible, indomitable. As played by Andrew Barnicle in North Coast Repertory Theatre’s world-premiere production of Tim Burns Faded Glory, that’s exactly what we get for the better part of two hours: an irascible bedridden general. But Sickles – based on a true-life figure in and after the Civil War – also possesses a fiercely nostalgic, practically obsessive, side: He can’t let go of the memories of his past. They’re littered throughout his home, where he is patiently tended to by nurse-and-confidant Eleanor (Shana Wride, in one of her most endearing roles in recent memory).
            Sickles is forced to confront the emotional complexities of his past with a vengeance during Faded Glory’s swift-moving two acts. His trying to regain the Medal of Honor that was bestowed upon him and then retracted is only part of his inner turmoil. There’s also the long-festered intrigue of his political/emotional relationship with Spain’s Queen Isabella, his subsequent arranged marriage to one of her ladies in waiting (Frances Anita Rivera, in both roles) and his personal realization of his own frailties, ones that extend beyond the loss of a leg at the Battle of Gettysburg.
            Enlivening but also muddling the storytelling is the presence of the dipsomaniacal John Barrymore (Bruce Turk), who conspires to bring the general and his estranged wife Condesa together again. The result of that reunion is the play’s payoff dramatic moment.
            Faded Glory can be unapologetic fun, mostly when the general is bantering back and forth with the indomitable but good-natured Ellie, who gives as good as she gets. The drunken oratory of scene-stealing Barrymore, too, is hard to resist given Turk’s affable interpretation. One almost longs for a Barrymore solo show, overflowing with booze-filled philosophy and weaving footsteps. But much of the noise of Faded Glory comes from the general, who interchangeably comes off as noble in his way or just plain cranky. Though the real-life Sickles’ biography problematic, his dramatization really doesn’t have to be, especially in a comedy played with the light touch that this one is.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    David L. Coddon is a Southern California theater critic.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    August 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    January 2016
    January 2015
    December 2014
    January 2014
    January 2013
    January 2012
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Theatre Review

David Coddon

About 
David Coddon Fiction
Theatre Reviews

Support

Contact
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page