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Stage
West’s ‘Sueño’ strong cast, weak script All at once both serious and comic, historical and modern, violent but with moments of beauty, “Sueño” invokes the dream of which the title speaks. Conceptually, the production at Stage West works. All the local elements are great — strong acting, striking visuals, moving action. The only weak element (unfortunately a big one) is the script, a collection of preachy monologues leaving little room for the actors to act. They do a good job with what they have, though. Each character takes on several incarnations through the course of the three-act show, allowing the actors to show off a depth and breadth of talent.
TCU student Cody Perret as Segismundo, with different words, would be a strong lead. Perret manages to run his character through a wide range of personality incarnations, from his beginning as a chained, barely-human, sorrowful creature to his resolution as a wise monarch. Each manifestation is well-played, with the character’s bratty turn in the second act so strong as to overpower the rest. The script, though, doesn’t give him much room for subtlety or explain his sudden changes of heart. Angie Jepson, another TCU student, runs through her character’s several sides with a strength and continuity as well. As Rosaura, Jepson first shows up as a man stumbling upon a kingdom’s secret. When she reveals herself in the second act as a woman (revealed to Segismundo as well as the audience through seductively strong swordplay), it is at once as a noblewoman and servant, both of which she pulls off. Jepson brings a high physicality to the character, getting thrown around, picked up and falling on the ground several times in the course of the evening, managing to hold onto her dignity throughout. Matthew Stephen Tompkins and Gigi Cervantes as Astolfo and Estrella, respectively, seem to be having the most fun. Rightfully so, as they got the best of translator and adapter José Rivera’s lines. (“May you achieve a kind of orgasmic happiness,” Tompkins gets to say at one point.) The pair, two cousins who are battling for the throne of Spain, upstage each other throughout the show, adding a welcome cleverness to the heavy plot. The play makes use of several styles and periods to tell the story, using both imaginative and blatant staging. Sometimes this mix of eras and styles really works (like when Estrella says, “You’re a lying heathen. And a sh--ty lover.”). Usually, though, it’s just confusing — at one point a character’s eyes are gouged out onstage, but another character dies bloodlessly of a gunshot. This merge best comes across in LaLonnie Lehman’s imaginative costume design. Rosaura wears a long, hoop-style skirt cut out in front to reveal a leopard-print miniskirt. Estrella’s princess dress is something Dracula’s teenage daughter would wear to prom, and boy does it fit the character. Other than soldiers in tennis shoes, Lehman mixes the periods very cleverly. The definite highlight of the show is George Brown’s fight choreography, effectively utilizing the entire Stage West space. Like the rest of the show, the fight mixes periods and styles — guns and swords occupy the same attack (in most cases, interestingly, it is the swords that dominate). Jepson and Tompkins in particular have a very-well done duel, a fitting battle the entire play had been building up to. Stage West and TCU teamed up to produce a solid performance that is as compelling visually as dramatically. Next time, though, they may want to find an in-house playwright as well to match up with the other strong elements both groups bring to the show. “Sueño” runs through April 27 at Stage West, 3055 South University Drive. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, 8:00 p.m. Fridays, 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays. Tickets are $18 and $22, with a student discount available. For more information, call Stage West at (817) 784-9378. John-Mark
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