{"id":35690,"date":"2018-09-05T17:20:59","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T17:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=35690"},"modified":"2018-09-05T17:20:59","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T17:20:59","slug":"theatre-the-chalk-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-the-chalk-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"THEATRE: THE CHALK GARDEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE CHALK GARDEN<\/h1>\n

I have to be honest and admit that the main reason I wanted to see this play was so that Mr. X and I could have a little pre-show dinner at an adorable Topanga Canyon Italian restaurant right near the theatre. We had discovered it last year on our way to Theatricum Botanicum to see A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> (which is playing in repertory this season, as well\u2014here\u2019s my review of last year\u2019s performance: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-a-midsummer-nights-dream<\/a>,) but we hadn\u2019t had enough time to even take out a pizza that night. So, I\u2019ve been dreaming about that eatery for a year now! (And yes, I do<\/em> know that we can go there any<\/em> time, but a drive to, and through, Topanga Canyon is what we consider to be a day trip!)<\/p>\n

\"Ellen<\/a>

Ellen Geer and Melora Marshall. Photo by Liam Flanders, as is the big one at the top of the page.<\/p><\/div>\n

But I\u2019m glad to have had that \u201ccarrot\u201d to entice me in that direction because The Chalk Garden<\/em> is a really good show, and I probably would have missed it otherwise. (This is just<\/em> how good it is\u2014the uber-shy Mr. X felt the need to congratulate several cast members when it was over. It would have to star Hugh Jackman or Adam Lambert to get me<\/em> to do that!)<\/p>\n

As many of you may know, I don\u2019t find-out the subject matter of plays and films I\u2019m about to see because I just want to experience them for myself, with no preconceived notions. But Mr. X looked-up The Chalk<\/em> Garden<\/em> the night before we were to see it, and told me, \u201cYou\u2019re going to love this show because of who stars in the movie.\u201d I was so upset that he said anything<\/em> about it, and asked him to zip it before he ruined it for me. But the cat was out of the bag. Well, more of a kitten<\/em>, because I had to now figure it out for myself. In the middle of the night, my crazy mind dug deep into my old movie knowledge, coupled with who Mr. X knew I\u2019d want to see, and I deduced that he had to be talking about Hayley Mills. And, of course, I was correct. But I knew this was not one of my beloved<\/em> Hayley Mills films, such as\u00a0Pollyanna <\/em>or The Parent Trap<\/em>, because I had never chosen to see it. I knew there had to be a reason for that, so I assumed that there\u2019s pain involved in the story.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>

Michael Nehring and Ellen Geer. Photo by Liam Flanders.<\/p><\/div>\n

I was correct about that, too, (of course,) but I\u2019m happy to report that Theatricum Botanicum plays it more for laughs. It\u2019s not really what I would call a happy<\/em> story, but they make the journey fun. I believe this play has always<\/em> been classified as a comedy, but there\u2019s so much angst included in the storyline that I must declare it to be a dramedy. (But, also of course, there was not such a designation back in the \u201850s.) [Note: The genres listed on IMDB for the film version of The Chalk Garden<\/em> are \u201cdrama\u201d and \u201cmystery,\u201d which reminds me of seeing the play of Who\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Wolff<\/em> years after I saw the tense, sad film. The stage show was actually sort-of a riot. And if that<\/em> story can be made amusing, any<\/em> play can! But The<\/em> Chalk Garde<\/em>n was written<\/em> as a comedy.]<\/p>\n

\"Melora<\/a>

Melora Marshall and Carmen Flood.
Photo by Liam Flanders<\/p><\/div>\n

There are too many threads of the story for my taste, and they don\u2019t all pan-out in the end, but I did enjoy the ride. There are very many clever lines, which have held up so well in the over six decades since Enid Bagnold wrote this play. I couldn\u2019t figure it all out, actually, but I believe that \u201cChalk Garden\u201d is a metaphor for the grandmother\u2019s dried-up life. Or something like that. (I\u2019ll leave that<\/em> analysis to other critics who delight in telling you the entire story, to show that they have viewing comprehension, without caring that they are most likely spoiling it for you.)<\/p>\n

Mr. X said the story and the characters get better as the action goes along. I don\u2019t know whether to attribute that to this particular production or to the original script, but I totally agree.<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/a>

(L-R) Ellen Geer, Carmen Flood, and Melora Marshall. Photo by Liam Flanders.<\/p><\/div>\n

He was especially fond of the performance of Theatricum Botanicum Artistic Director, Ellen Geer, in the main role of the grandmother. He said that \u201cshe brings comedic elegance to both the character and production.\u201d I concur with that assessment, and on a shallow note, I also love her nose; it looks a lot like my mother\u2019s beautiful one, (which, obviously, I did not inherit.) She reminded me a bit of my fabulous grandmother, as well, which is always a good thing.<\/p>\n

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Carmen Flood as the teen-age granddaughter at the center of the scenario, especially knowing that she was trying to fill Hayley\u2019s shoes, (in my<\/em> eyes; she\u2019s<\/em> probably too young to even know who Ms. Mills is!) I could really hear how my idol must have delivered each line when Carmen was speaking. She’s adorable, and does a great job of portraying a teen-ager, when she\u2019s a college senior right now. I can see her having a successful acting career in the future.<\/p>\n

\"Willow<\/a>

Willow Geer and her mother, both on and off the stage, Ellen Geer. Photo by Liam Flanders.<\/p><\/div>\n

I had written a note that the casting of each and every actor in this show is excellent, especially in the case of the three generations of the females in the family. I found-out later that Willow Geer, who plays the daughter of the matriarch, is Ellen Geer\u2019s daughter in real life! (After the curtain call, when I heard her tell a guest that she had gotten something \u201cfrom my mother,\u201d and pointed to Ellen, I thought, \u201cWhat an actress\u2014she\u2019s still in character!\u201d And then\u00a0my post-show research set me straight.)<\/p>\n

Speaking of Ellen, I have to give her some props for something admirable she did the night I saw the show. She seemed to have a bit of bother with an occasional line, but she made the stumbles seem like those of the character rather than of the actor. Great acting lesson for audience members in the biz.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The set, pre-show. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n

I also appreciated the Rich Rose set design, which really does<\/em> look like an old rich English woman\u2019s sort-of-messy-but-once-regal country manor. But, in the company\u2019s efforts to use the entire stage, I felt that the action was a bit too<\/em> stretched-out. On the other hand, great use was made of the theatre\u2019s outdoor setting since the house\u2019s garden is so much a part of the discussion.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another bit of good news\u2014none of the actors\u2019 English accents bothered me! Stop the presses on that one. And I enjoyed the music that\u2019s played occasionally between scenes. It\u2019s very \u201cmovie.\u201d<\/p>\n

One tiny annoyance for me was that, despite sitting in the front row, and being known for my bionic hearing, I had a real problem understanding what everyone was saying, and got only about a half of the dialogue, because of the way too loud constant cricket concert. But there\u2019s really nothing the outdoor theatre can do about that. (Maybe have the actors speak louder? Or ask the sound designer\u00a0to help out? How about massive amounts of Raid?) (I\u2019m only kidding about that last one\u2014I would not kill crickets!!! I was just checking to see if you\u2019re paying attention.)<\/p>\n

\"Ellen<\/a>

Ellen Geer and William Dennis Hunt.
Photo by Susan Angelo.<\/p><\/div>\n

To sum-up,\u00a0The Chalk Garden\u00a0<\/em>is\u00a0the best show of the four that I\u2019ve seen at Theatricum Botanicum over the past two seasons.\u00a0 But oh those crickets!<\/p>\n

Now, about the entire<\/em> experience, I hadn\u2019t been there yet this year, so I wasn\u2019t sharply focused on how fun a summer trip to Theatricum Botanicum can be! But I was reminded pretty quickly as soon as we entered the premises. We bumped into a few good pals we never get to see, and we all sang the praises of this place. And I think Mr. X and I lucked-out to have not<\/em> planned to picnic there that night because I don\u2019t think there was an empty table or bench! A great time was being had by all.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The pre-show picnickers. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have to add that if you listen to me about nothing else with regard to this place, (other than to see the show, of course,) it’s to wear insect repellent. On every inch of skin that those little buggers can possibly get to. (There\u2019s a kind-of tarp cover over the audience, which I hadn\u2019t noticed last summer, which might possibly deter some<\/em> of those bloodsuckers, and also come in handy for the daytime and early evening shows. So that\u2019s<\/em> a bonus.)<\/p>\n

And, oh yes, in case you\u2019re wondering about that Italian eatery, it was great, too. Adorable interior, delicious food, and lovely service. (I didn\u2019t even feel like I was still in LA with them!) A stop at the neighboring General Store put the icing on the cake, (which is actually what we bought there, in case the fresh country air was going to make us hungry again at intermission.)<\/p>\n

Lastly, even though I was one of the top thirty-one language students at my high school of over five thousand, all I remember of my Latin studies is \u201cagricolae aquam portem,\u201d (which means \u201cthe farmers carry water.\u201d Think how often that<\/em> comes in handy in life!) But, even so, I know that \u201cTheatricum Botanicum\u201d translates to \u201cgarden theatre.\u201d So The Chalk Garden<\/em> is the perfect piece for this location.<\/p>\n

The Chalk Garden<\/em> running (in repertory) through\u00a0September 30, 2018<\/strong>
\n Theatricum Botanicum 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. 310-455-2322\u00a0\u00a0www.theatricum.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE CHALK GARDEN I have to be honest and admit that the main reason I wanted to see this play was so that Mr. X and I could have a little pre-show dinner at an adorable Topanga Canyon Italian restaurant right near the theatre. We had discovered it last year on our way to Theatricum<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-from-theater-to-events-to-the-circus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35690"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35728,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35690\/revisions\/35728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}