ONE FOR THE ROAD and
You have to wonder why Public Trust Theatre Company is presenting two such wildly different one-acts on the same bill. Harold Pinter’s One for the Road is a dry, cruel drama; The Beggar’s Opera Cabaret! is a campy, all-female version of John Gay’s satire of early 18th-century English life. With only one (well-received) production, Hard Times, to its credit, an identity crisis is not what Public Trust needs.
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The Beggar’s Opera Cabaret! was adapted and directed by Gina Kaufmann. Once all-female versions of such classics as Shakespeare and Bonanza were a bold new concept. Kaufmann presents her adaptation with all the energy that usually accompanies bold new concepts, but unfortunately the concept is now old and tired. This production’s biggest flaw is that Kaufmann and her three actresses think their idea is really, really cool. They have that “Hey! Look at me!” energy, but they don’t have anything to say.
Nicholas’s hints are simply another form of torture, and perhaps proof that mental torture is stronger than physical torture. Max Baker plays Nicholas as a weak man, prone to drinking Scotch and oddly bored with his job. Underplaying the role, he dourly passes over moments of cruelty that might have been savored–because what Nicholas does drives the action. This production is compelling, but it’s hardly as chilling as the harsh truth about torture.
