THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411080123
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: THEATER REVIEW
SOURCE: MONTAGUE GAMMON III
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Where was the audience for ``Burning Azaleas''?
This is a well-written, well-directed, well-acted and genuinely moving new play. It is set in Norfolk. If focuses on important issues of interpersonal and individual conscience. Author Edward Morgan is a local resident, whose abilities as playwright, director and actor are earning national attention. Local audiences have received Morgan's previous scripts with deserved enthusiasm.
Why were there only two dozen people sitting in ODU's University Theatre last Friday night?
Though one character in the play sarcastically suggests that the Azalea Festival is the high water mark of Tidewater culture, it is safe to rule out a general philistinism. After all, no fewer than seven plays opened in Norfolk this weekend. Not only does this argue against a widespread disinterest in matters artistic, but such an rich array of theatrical offerings may have scattered local theater supporters among too many playhouses.
Sadly, a look at the play's publicity may explain the sparse attendance. The plot concerns a young girl who stages a political protest, in the style of the Berrigan brothers, at the Azalea Festival Air Show.
It isn't a political play, it is a play about people. It preaches no lesson about war or violence or the violence or the military-industrial complex, though its central character tries to do so. The most fundamental human concerns of familial love and support, self-interest and self-sacrifice comprise the play's core.
The production's conspicuous achievement, under Christopher Hanna's direction, is to present a number of well-crafted characters with whom an audience can empathize, and about whom an audience can come to care, deeply. Yet some descriptions of the play seem to suggest that its purpose is to put forth an anti-military agenda. Perhaps the thought of an unwelcomed sermon kept people away.
``Burning Azaleas'' is a tragedy, on a classical model. Shunning the show may not be a comparable tragedy, but it is certainly a terrible shame.
Natasha Bunnel creates a compelling, believable portrait of a 17-year-old ``true believer.'' Her character, Sara, is an immature zealot whose good intentions do not overcome her inability to see the consequences her actions have on people close to her. She cares about the pain of all humanity, but is incapable of anticipating the hurt she causes individuals.
Sara's father is a burned-out Vietnam veteran, and her uncle is the articulate, intelligent commanding officer of Norfolk's Naval Air Station. Both manifest, in different ways, something like the blindness that is Sara's tragic flaw.
Tim Ross plays the father convincingly, avoiding common cliches in drawing this familiar character type. Joe Haberly carries off the difficult role of Captain Marley with a good sense of balance, though there are hints that Morley might have a bit more dimension than Friday's performance revealed.
Some especially precise acting was turned in by Pam Manning, ad the captain's wife.
Adam Jones's characterization also displays accuracy. J. Derek Peith is convincing as a cocky young reporter who, not unlike Sara, stumbles on his inflated sense of self-importance.
If there is a character that does not ring true, it is the newspaper editor Dan Randall. Morgan needed to have Sara's story suppressed by the local media, and contrived a rather simplistic character to do just that. Is it really likely that neither television nor radio would pursue details about a young woman who splashes ``a red liquid'' on a Navy plane in front of thousands of spectators?
Konrad Winters designed a set that frames current events with the spare elegance of ancient Greek drama. Keriann Yohler's costumes catch the same blend of classical and contemporary, and Philip Watson's lighting completes some striking images.
``Burning Azaleas'' is no light-hearted comedy, but neither is it strident propaganda. It is a carefully crafted, uniquely American tragedy that deserves the attention of thoughtful audiences interested in serious drama. ILLUSTRATION: AT A GLANCE
What: ``Burning Azaleas,'' by Edward Morgan.
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 10-12 and 17-19; 3
p.m. Sunday Nov. 13 and 20.
Where: University Theatre, 4600 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk.
Tickets: 683-5305.
by CNB