BEYOND ‘BEWITCHED’
“Bell, Book and Candle,” the romantic comedy that opens tonight at the Lon Chaney Theatre, is fluff with heft.
“It seems innocuous, but there are serious things in it — how we feel things, when we feel things,” says Mark Hennessy, director of the Star Bar Players’ season opener.
John Van Druten’s 1950 script revolves around Gillian, a witch who falls in love with a mortal man. There are comic possibilities galore in this situation, which served as the inspiration for the TV show “Bewitched.” But Hennessy says there’s more.
“We found the serious subtext immediately,” Hennessy says — “relationships, and wanting things you can’t have.”
Ironically, finding the comedy was harder work for Hennessy and his five-member cast.
A major challenge was realizing one of Van Druten’s choices: In the play, witches and warlocks can’t feel love.
“Now, if you’re an actor playing this character, it’ll be pretty dull if you’re an android,” Hennessy says.
“How do you find the affection, anger and outrage in people who aren’t supposed to feel these things?”
The Star Bar Players’ production is set in the 1950s (as is the 1958 film version starring Jimmy Stewart as the bewildered mortal, Kim Novak as the witch and Jack Lemmon as her warlock brother). But although Hennessy says the play has an old-fashioned sensibility, he also says it doesn’t seem dated.
One reason is Van Druten’s avoidance of topical references. There are no references to prices or celebrities, and only a single mention of the controversial House Un-American Activities Committee.
Two things make the play special to Hennessy. One is the character of Gillian — an enormous part that has actress Lisa Siebert on stage for almost the entire play.
“She has this great journey,” he says. “In the witch world, she has it all, but it’s not making her happy. She has to become miserable in order to find what makes her happy — which is love.”
The other is Van Druten’s depiction of the play’s other supernatural characters.
“They relish the lives they lead,” Hennessy says. “They love being witches and warlocks.”
He says the more common dramatic theme is for characters to wish they fit in.
“How often do people who are different take such joy in being different?” Hennessy asks.
“Bell, Book and Candle” kicks off a four-show season that Hennessy says has a good chance of being Star Bar Players’ best ever.
It will be followed by A.R. Gurney’s “Later Life” in January, Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero” in March, and Brian Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” in April.
“The shows are funny and literate,” says Hennessy, who is also the organization’s artistic director. “Coming off ‘The Rainmaker’” — last season’s acclaimed finale, which won the Peak Area Performers & Artists’ “Best Theater Production” award — “we wanted to build on that.”
Hennessy is excited about the set for “Bell, Book and Candle.” Its designer, Patrick Lively, also helped create the onstage rain in the Fine Arts Center’s spring production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” which Hennessy directed.
The longtime veteran of haunted houses will be in charge of the stage magic.
“We hope to bring some 2005 into the 1950s,” Hennessy says.
details
The Star Bar Players Present “Bell, Book and Candle”
When: Opens 8 p.m. today; runs 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays (except Nov. 5), 2 p.m. Nov. 13; through Nov. 13
Where: Lon Chaney Theater, City Auditorium, 221 E. Kiowa St.
Tickets: $15; 573-7411
