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‘Orson’s Shadow’ Imagines Welles and Olivier Rehearsing ‘Rhinoceros’

A fascinating back-stage view of theater greats shows their foibles

By Lucy Komisar

August Pendleton’s elegantly invented memoir of the lives of three important theater figures imagines what transpired when Orson Welles was called to direct Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright in a London production of Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist anti-fascist play, “Rhinoceros.”

It’s 1960, not a tough political time, and at the rehearsals, held on the black brick-walled bare stage of the Royal Court Theatre in London, the protagonists are focused on themselves – their careers, their lovers, their futures. That’s why one of the tasks at hand is getting Olivier to understand the play.

The actors follow stage lore such as: “You can’t name Macbeth. You have to say ‘the Scottish play’.” That superstition takes them down a bit from their glory pedestals. They are, after all human, and it’s their humanity, and foibles, that show here, as much as their artistry.

Welles (Jeff Still) has been asked to direct after a long period of dry years following the success of “Citizen Kane.” Olivier (John Judd) is starring with Joan Plowright (Susan Bennett), his lover, while his wife Vivien Leigh (Lee Roy Rogers), is on stage in New York. Olivier still loves Leigh – they were young actors together -- but her flakiness is turning into definable manic-depression. She is fragile, but loopy. In the midst of the London rehearsals, Leigh phones, then dashes by plane from New York just in time to behave outrageously and catch the flight back for her own performance.

On the sidelines is critic Kenneth Tynan (Tracy Letts), who sees himself as a bit of an impresario and has persuaded Welles to direct the play, hoping his service will be an entrée into a role at the new National Theater – to be run by Olivier -- where the play will open.

Welles, by the way, has had a long affair with Leigh. Is this beginning to sound like a tale in a tabloid?  It’s not that. The protagonists’ reflections of ego is mixed with expressions of wit.

The production sails along on wings of a talented cast, headed by Jeff Still as a grandiloquent, sometimes overbearing, and emotionally edgy Welles, and Judd as a self-assured Olivier who knows the world revolves around him. 

Tracy Letts plays Tynan as one of those men who seek to bask in others’ shadows, Susan Bennett’s Plowright is the most stable of the lot, and Lee Roy Rogers’ Leigh is a heart-wrenching waif who has taken over the body of an accomplished woman.

Under David Cromer’s subtle direction, “Orson’s Shadow” is a sensitive, charming view of some theater greats, backstage in their lives as well as their work.

“Orson's Shadow.” Written by Austin Pendleton. Directed by David Cromer. Starring Susan Bennett, John Judd, Tracy Letts, Lee Roy Rogers, Jeff Still, Ian Westerfer. (Judd, Letts and Rogers have been replaced by Ken Marks, Sean McNall, and Jennifer Van Dyck.)

Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow Street @ 7th Avenue. Tues - Sat 8 pm, Sat & Sun 3 pm, Sun 7:30 pm. Running time: 2:15. $55. 212-239-6200.

Images by Colin D. Young

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