Tricia Punsford, Jakie Cabe and Chad Peterson star in Tom Stoppard’s 1974 show, “Travesties” now playing at Theatre Three. (JEFFERY SCHMIDT/Theatre Three)
Theatre Three is taking risks with their latest show “Travesties,” but not for lack of talent, direction or intelligence. It takes a sharp, well-informed, slightly pretentious audience to fully appreciate Tom Stoppard’s post-modern work that centers itself more on an idea than a plot.
“Travesties” is a trip through the mind of the English consular official Henry Carr (Jakie Cabe), who was living in Zurich during World War I at the same time that James Joyce (David Dixon), Lenin (Jackie L. Kemp) and the founder of the Dada artistic movement Tristan Tzara (Chad Peterson).
The play begins when he is an old man, as he reminisces about those times and though he seems to connect the story through a production of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the play is really a trip through his mind.
The play works well in Theatre Three’s theater-in-the-round, with Carr’s living room taking the main focal point at the southwest corner and the library just a few feet away, which allows the locations to blend on stage as they do in Carr’s mind. The jarring scene transitions are handled with a giant cuckoo clock, Twilight Zone-esque music and swirling multi-colored lights, which also plays on the psyche behind the play.
The text itself might find itself lost, with some less than recognizable names dropped and speech so quick that it sometimes trips up the actors, though not as often as Stoppard could.
On the contrary, Cabe is the perfect blend of pompous, thoughtful and droll, without which this show would fail, as in many ways the play is completely subject to the energy that he provides. Peterson is thoroughly entertaining, and almost too cute, as the curious artist who is anti-art.
The two of them have some of the longer conversations in a play that is an absurd, somewhat distorted representation of the ideas (a travesty, you see) behind the artistic movements of the early 20th century, which means that this is a work of art about artistic concepts.
Enter Dixon with a light on his feet, limerick-making Joyce and you have the conversation going in dizzying directions.
It is almost as confusing as it sounds, but by the second act, the opening night audience began to respond more openly.
Love is also an issue in this play, addressed of course by having women who worship the ideas of the men. Tricia Ponsford as Gwendolyn Carr, who is in love with Tzara and Cecily Carruthers, the librarian who marries Henry Carr and idolizes Lenin. Both give stunning performances, most notably during their singsong exchange in the second act. Greg Forshay also gives an excellent performance as Carr’s butler, Bennett.
Overall, this play is quite enjoyable if you like Stoppard or you’re craving some highbrow theater. “Travesties” runs through March 12.
For more information visit theatre3dallas.org.
