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| Kevin Bacon, Robert Stanton and Melinda Page Hamilton. Photo: Joan Marcus. |
Wow, What a Set! But Rear Window Adaptation Fails to Pull
Back the Curtain on Suspense
By Lauren Yarger
If you’re expecting the characters that Grace Kelly,
Jimmy Stewart and Thelma Ritter made famous in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film –
or just a sharply written, suspenseful plot -- you’ll be disappointed in Keith Reddin’s
adaptation of Rear Window playing at
Hartford Stage.
This
play, based on a short story also titled “It Had to Be Murder” by Cornell
Woolrich which inspired the film, is dark, weak and at times even corny, but
has sold out here because it includes star Kevin Bacon as the wheel-chair bound
man who thinks he sees a neighbor murder his wife.
Where
the film contains compelling characters who have interesting relationships with
each other, this stage adaptation is more about trying to find a window into
the souls of Hal Jeffries (Bacon) and Sam
(McKinley Belcher III), a
young, black man who has shown up to take care of “Jeff” after meeting him in a
bar.
Jeffries had been one of the best crime
reporters around before he became house-bound in his New York City apartment. Now,
when he isn’t hobbling around on a broken leg received in some mysterious way, he
sits around drinking and looking out of his rear window observing the lives of
his neighbors who are visible in their apartments across the way. Among them
are a young, scantily clad woman, a troubled couple and workmen in a vacant
apartment (portrayed by the ensemble: Dan Bender, Erik Bloomquist, Ashley Croce, Roy Donnelly, Barbara Gallow, Jon Garrity, Caitlin Harrity, William Squier, Quinn Warren).
When Jeff looks out the window, the
walls of his apartment melt away and the going-ons in the other apartments come
to life in individual panes thanks to Alexander Dodge’s phenomenal set design,
expertly lighted by York
Kennedy. The disappearing,
reappearing and rotating abilities of the towering set really are jaw dropping and
make it the most exciting part of the show (and one of the most amazing we have
seen on a Connecticut stage).
Catching Jeff’s attention in particular,
is Mrs. Thorwald (Melinda Page Hamilton), a sad wife, obviously disenchanted
with her husband (Robert Stanton) and his unwanted advances. When Jeff picks up
on some unusual circumstances and suspects that Thorwald has murdered his wife,
he calls friend and police detective Boyne (John Bedford Lloyd) to investigate
to no avail. If anything, Jeffries has angered the possible murderer and
alerted him to what he might have seen.
Jeffries seems to slide deeper into his
alcoholic stupor, imagining conversations with his neighbors and seemingly uncaring
about putting Sam in harm’s way when he asks him to help investigate. The
police aren’t exactly welcoming of African Americans in 1947, you see (when
they play is set and evidenced by Linda Cho’s period costumes). There’s
additional subtext to the story as well, that Jeffries is taking advantage of
Sam, with whom he might have a closeted sexual relationship – also not popular
in 1947.
Though we expect a psychological thriller,
thanks in part to an excellent opening scene staged by Director Darko Tresnjak,
where, sans the usual curtain speech, suspenseful music (sound designed by the
excellent Jane Shaw) draws us toward the stage where projections (designed by Sean
Nieuwenhuis) fade to scary, blood red. Instead the plot veers off to become a
look into the window of Jeff’s soul – accomplished in part through flashbacks
where we see him in relationship with his former wife, socialite Gloria (also
played by Hamilton) -- and into Sam’s struggle
against prejudice and injustice.
The
mystery here focuses on whether or not Jeffries has imagined the whole murder
in an alcoholic hallucination and on the relationship between him and Sam. The
suspense of whether Thorwald killed his wife and got rid of the body – and whether
he will eliminate Jeffries for witnessing that act – are sort of lost, especially
with pre-confrontation dialogue between the two in Jeff’s imagination. No
amount of the pounding suspenseful music convinces us otherwise.
One
scene where Mrs. Thorwald calls to Jeffries from the grave is comical rather
than suspenseful. After a while, we even draw a curtain on the awe of those
fabulous sets as the constant movement – in one case to allow for a scene just
a few line of dialogue long – becomes distracting in the 85-minute, no intermission staging.
Rear Window runs through Nov.15 at Hartford Stage, 50 Church St., Hartford. This run is sold out with a limited number of standing room and last-minute seats available. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings at 7:30 pm.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets $25-$95. (860) 527-5151; www.hartfordstage.org.
