THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
BOB NELSON has used an ensemble of three actors to create a bit of delightful eccentricity in ``The Swan,'' the opening production of the Generic Theater's 15th offbeat season.
Here is a play that is refreshingly small and simple in its outlook, yet it has something to say on about the most important subject of all - finding someone, or something, to love.
Dora, a lonely nurse living in Nebraska, has persuaded herself to be content with the married man who visits her when he can sneak away from his wife. She's a habitual loser when it comes to love, having been deserted three times, and is loath to take another chance.
Into her life comes an unexpected entry - a swan that crashes into the window, knocks itself out and then is nurtured in a box in her living room. It squawks a lot in a way that intrigues and threatens the audience.
In the middle of the night, the swan crawls out of the box, and looks remarkably - in fact, exactly - like a young, naked man. Yes, this show does have that bit of fleeing nudity. After all, have you ever seen a swan wearing clothes?
Pam Good brings a good deal of down-to-earth honesty to her role as the earthy Dora. But the real performance of the night is Ethan Marten's outing as the swan. He moves like a dancer. He perches believably atop the refrigerator or the couch. He laps water from a dish. He flaps his imaginary wings with rage and pecks at the air with bird-like curiosity.
Eventually, he begins to think he might be a man, not a swan. Dora gets the idea too. The scene in which they explore the idea of just who they might be is touchingly simple and effective.
The cast is rounded out by Frank McCaffery as the married man, who seemingly means well but has no idea how selfish his relationship with Dora might be. He's out to keep his wife as well as Dora. He is amazingly tolerant toward the visiting swan, which evolves as the play's most unlikely twist.
Nelson has directed the actors in a seamless and natural outing that plays this slight material for what it is. There is a refreshing lack of pretense.
The set is rather sparse and never looks as if anyone lives there. The sound cues, which are numerous, are well handled.
The play, the latest ``find'' of the inventive Generic, was first produced at the Yale School of Drama. It has subsequently been produced by Actors Theater of Louisville and the New York Shakespeare Festival. It deserves a long life.
There is a good deal of ``E.T.'' in it - a good deal of an urge not to be afraid to take chances.
It's a small play and an innocent one, but there is a great deal of theatricality here. by CNB