Byline: Martin P. Kelly Staff writer
Lanford Wilson's "Burn This" is a case of an intriguing, dynamic character supplying the vitality that compensates for an otherwise overlong, somewhat pretentious play.
The Capital Repertory Company's production benefits from a supercharged performance by Mark Arnold that overcomes, in part, a staging by Bruce Bouchard that permits Wilson's talky play to drift.
Arnold's performance as Pale (originally played by John Malkovich on Broadway) explodes upon the stage as a raging, foul-mouthed man reeking with guilt over the death of his younger brother.
Pale's irrational confrontation with a dancer, Anna (Juliette Kurth), takes on its own rationale as the angry man works from visceral emotions that exude a sexual charm. One wonders objectively why Anna would succumb to his seductive approach; yet, at the moment it occurs, it makes sense.
This is part of the dilemma faced by Anna, who shared a loft apartment with Pale's brother, Robbie, also a dancer. When Robbie dies in a boating accident with his homosexual lover, Anna is treated as the dead man's wife by a family who refuses to accept his lifestyle.
Pale's rage rises from his guilt at standing with his family in their reluctance to accept Robbie's life and career choices. He also is in the throes of a marital problem and a business burnout.
For her part, Anna is facing the dilemma of a career change and the marriage proposal of wealthy film writer Burton (James Goodwin Rice). The death of her close friend brings both choices into sharp focus that's clouded by the arrival of Pale.
This evolves into a violent, quirky romance between Anna and Pale that finds its direction and pace in Arnold's performance. When he's onstage, the play moves briskly with blended dramatic and comic moments.
In these moments, Kurth also registers as the perplexed young dancer drawn to the raging Pale as a moth to a flame. She is willing to comfort him even as she struggles to avoid commitment.
It is when Wilson deals with the relationship of Anna and Burton that the play loses its impact. While it's necessary for romantic conflict, the subplot goes soft in their scenes, particularly as Bouchard permits the actors to drop volume and insert pauses in their dialogue.
Despite a sympathetic performance by Rice, the relationship between Burton and Anna suffers in comparison with the one involving Anna and Pale.
Barry Lee's homosexual advertising man, Larry, another roommate of the dancer and friend of Robbie, stays this side of caricature but loses some of the incisive, sardonic wit in his lines.
Larry is the sympathetic observer, but Lee doesn't gain the full potential of the role as his lines fall into the studied pattern of Bouchard's staging.
This is a production that succeeds when Arnold's Pale is on stage. The rest is pure vamping, waiting for the action.
Strangely, Robbie's character takes on a form of its own even though he's dead before the play begins.
What we hear, as is true in a number of plays of this sort, is talk about a pure character with little fault. It almost seems that this flawlessness is needed to heighten the hurt others feel because of his death.
This unrealistic notion is something that was found in "Goodbye Freddie," a play similar in tone done by Capital Rep several years ago. The dead man being grieved is placed on a pedestal that diminishes his dimension and dramatic value.
The production does boast a remarkably accurate set by Rick Dennis depicting a Greenwich Village loft. The expansiveness permits the notion that a dancer lives here while also offering ample areas for the various scenes. "Burn This," Capital Rep, Market Street Theatre, through April 8. Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Sataurdays at 4:30 and 9 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $14.50 to $21. Box office: 462-4534.
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