'Cinderella in reverse'

R E V I E W

Ryan Jewkes as Arthur Gower and Stephanie Folkins as Rose Trelawny, his betrothed. (Nick Pearce Photo)

After a dark season of devilish dogs, stolen children and violence in our backyards, DalTheatre has earned its right to some light comedy. The fourth-year acting class’ closer, Trelawny of the 'Wells,' is just that – a green-room to drawing-room story of Cinderella-in-reverse.

The play, first produced in 1898, has aged surprisingly well: teenage London starlet Rose Trelawny (Stephanie Folkins), acting on her “poor mother’s” advice to flee the “gypsy” theatre lifestyle ASAP, snags a convenient engagement to gentleman Arthur Gower (Ryan Jewkes.) Before Arthur’s relic-like relatives will allow him to wed Rose, however, she’s subjected to a crash course in lady-like behavior: no singing, no sneezing, and no sitting on the floor. Rose rebels, and soon it's Arthur’s turn to chase her through the backrooms of theatres and the top floors of boarding houses.

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Trelawny of the 'Wells' is a Broadway favorite – the program says Meryl Streep made her New York debut in the play. Penned by famed 19th-century playwright Arthur Wing Pinero at the turn of the century, Trelawny of the Wells is an eyewitness account of the glorious sunset of melodramatic theatre and the simultaneous emergence of new, more realistic drama. As such, it’s surprisingly psychologically complex: Rose, though realizing she had every right to reject the Gowers' would-be Pygamalion process, comes also to recognize that her self-conscious showiness is costing her opportunities both onstage and off. She’s not entirely guilty, but neither is she the stainless ingénue. Such moral ambivalence is typical of Trelawny of the 'Wells', which at times plays like a Victorian Ugly Betty. No one is irredeemable, but everyone can be made fun of.

DalTheatre is known for lavish sets, costumes, and other extras, and Trelawny of the 'Wells' lives up to that reputation. Two jugglers entertain the audience before the show, and would be welcome back at intermission for an encore. Elaborate set changes take place behind a sepia-toned London landscape projected onto a screen – and when more than one actress is acting, the stage is dominated by their enormous hoopskirts. Designed by Jennifer Coe, the costumes for Rose, especially, are exceptionally good; frothy confections of lace, crinolines and ribbons, the prevalence of snowy white in Rose’s gowns and her “boarding room” are the audience’s clue to her essential innocence.

Trelawny of the 'Wells' is directed by James Dodding and runs to April 4 in the James Dunn theatre. Now that they’re taking the last bows of the season, Dal Theatre can sit back, draw a deep breath, and congratulate themselves on a job ‘well’ done.