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At the Alliance: ‘Guardsman’ glitters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: ”The Guardsman.” Through March 13.
Love is always more dangerous and titillating when it’s a game played by the coy. If your paramour asks you to dress as a man in uniform, or a glamorous actress in a flowing silk negligee, you might consider it. But what happens when the line between fantasy and reality starts to blur, and you desire the invented suitor better than the genuine article?
In Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 classic ”The Guardsman,” what we today call role-playing is disguised in the structure of elegant drawing-room comedy. When actor Nandor suspects his actress wife Ilona may be bored, he tests her fidelity by posing as a Viennese count in full military regalia.
The resulting interlude — in which the two engage in a teasing dance of wit that lets audiences guess who’s in control and who’s being duped — is a superbly concocted bon-bon that was made into a 1931 film starring the legendary Lunts. Now, like a belated Valentine, ”Guardsman” has arrived at the Alliance Theatre in a sumptuously crafted production by Hungarian director Laszlo Marton.
It’s a glittery night of theater that approximates the thrill of dressing up to kiss, which is literally what these peacock characters do in a gilded Budapest opera box.
But does Ilona know that the stiff-lipped ”count” with the halting accent is really her husband giving what he describes as the performance of his life? It’s a testament to the cleverness of Molnar and Marton that the balance of power, ego and vanity is kept in tittering suspense until the final revelation.
Well, almost.
In their vaulting insecurity, the exqusite Ilona (Hollis Resnik) and nervous Nandor (Ray Dooley) don’t just need each other; they need a fawning public and coddling critics. They need servants and surrogate mothers, elegant clothes andunlimited credit. No wonder Lunt and Fontanne nailed the roles. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier also come to mind. As do … hmmm … Jennifer and Brad, Nicole and Tom?
This production could be funnier. But Resnik and Dooley are excellent.
Donning a fake mustache and a hat with a horse-hair pompon, Dooley is a wonderfully poignant clown. Calling on his wife for the first time in his fake uniform, his boots are so high that he has trouble navigating his seat.
The lost opportunity here is Evan Thompson as the critic Bela, the couple’s lapdog. If ever a part called for a hint of Noel Coward or Addison DeWitt (see ”All About Eve”’), this is it. Happily, DeAnn Mears (as Ilona’s paid ”’Mother”’) is a vivacious co-conspirator who recalls Juliet’s Nurse and the flirtatious Aunt Lavinia in ”The Heiress.” Hers is a delightful and memorable supporting performance.
Credit Todd Rosenthal’s dazzling scenery for what seems to be a never-ending showcase of thespian winks. The couple’s over-the-top parlor is studded with masks and opera posters. Ilona’s piano is topped with a miniature playhouse. And the space is framed by opera boxes filled with nude plaster mannequins.
Time for the balcony scene? Voila. The living room splits apart to reveal a cantilevered and curtained chamber, where Mother chortles as Ilona flits back and forth between her rendezvous with the Guardsman. Both women are feathered and beaded to a farethewell by costume designer Alan Armstrong, and Thomas C. Hase’s lighting illumines the brocade, velvet and gilt with flickering shadows.
Bravo.
So who will win this mad masquerade? Let’s just say Ilona never dons a mask, but she proves herself a marvelous actress, liar and manipulator. She plays along with the game — and loves every minute of it. ”You’ve deprived me of the most beautiful and strange night of my life,” she tells Nandor, after he reveals himself. Maybe this scheme wasn’t so ridiculous. Maybe it’s the start of something kinky.
THE VERDICT: A gem in a jewel box.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through March 13. $12.75-$38.25. Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, www.alliancetheatre.org.
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