Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300210
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PLAY DELVES INTO MYSTERIES OF THE SOUL
Mill Mountain Theatre's Norfolk Southern Festival of New Works opened "Partial Objects" on Friday in Theatre B at Center on Church. The fantasy-comedy by Sherry Kramer was first runner-up in the 1991 Mill Mountain Theatre New Play Competition.The work imaginatively combines the myths of Faust and Mephistopheles and Adam and Eve for a contemporary treatment of love, marriage, sex and yearning. The play is billed as containing adult language and themes, but neither is particularly offensive.
Adrian Williams appears through the courtesy of Actors Equity Association as the magical Mephistopheles. His portrayal of the darkly clad fallen angel and servant from Hell is humorous and innovative as the audience watches him switch between human and animal forms. His character is a peculiar, energetic mixture of high-stakes card shark, fast-talking salesman and cute-and-cuddly pet.
Kramer's interpretation of the Faust legend has Mephistopheles appearing before his masters in the unlikely guise of a black French poodle. The masters in this version are two lovers seeking the perfect union, and their devoted poodle watches over them from the foot of their bed.
Paris, played by Jerry Bradley, and Julianna, played by Martha J. Perantoni, are invited by the devil's messenger to sell their souls for that "one perfect moment." "The moment" defies definition, yet is sought after with such fervor that it is often overlooked as it occurs again and again in small ways during the banal trudge through daily life.
This universal yearning to transcend the limitations of the flesh, to merge human pleasures with divine perfection, to know God, is innately understood. However, audience members who are unfamiliar with earlier Faust stories may miss much of the symbolism and comparisons in this play. Still, they can relate to the better-known Garden of Eden legend that deals with similar themes of the upward-striving nature of humanity and the inevitable fall from grace.
Faust was willing to sell his soul only if the devil could conjure up an experience so rewarding that he would want "the moment" to linger forever. In "Partial Objects," Paris and Julianna wait for Mephistopheles to pull a similar incredible experience from his bag of tricks. Day after day, year after year, they yearn for their pact to be fulfilled, while the black French poodle also waits and watches from the foot of their bed. Meanwhile, the couple have a child and grow old together.
Neither party ever truly comprehends the nature of his/her existence. And so the cycle continues as Mephistopheles moves on from the aging couple's bedroom to fresher temptations in their young daughter's room.
Daughter Margaret is played by Wendy A. Rolfe of Brooklyn. Her character's young, impressionable mind is easily seduced by the devil's fanciful stories, so Mephistopheles quickly deserts his unfinished pact with her parents.
Questions about the human condition can be answered only in individual terms. And as these issues are examined on stage, they will mean something different to every observer. But Paris and Julianna's yearning to understand the mysteries of the soul will be understood by all.
"Partial Objects," directed by Ernest Zulia, continues in Theatre B through Feb. 7. 342-5740.