Armadale

Brian Vaughan and Emily Trask in Armadale

Jeffrey Hatcher is one of the most talented American playwrights alive. His deftly-written monologue program Three Viewings recently found a local stage at Kopper Bear productions — a tiny studio staging which became one of the best productions in the county this season, of any size. Even the best writers, however, don’t always write the best stuff. For Hatcher, Armadale is a perfect example. Hatcher’s adaptation of the 1862 penny dreadful by Wilkie Collins makes its world premiere this month at The Milwaukee Rep. While it has its moments, Hatcher’s adaptation of Armadale is an amateurish work that nearly succeeds in spite of itself thanks to the heroic efforts of a top-notch Milwaukee Rep cast.

Armadale is the story of two men, both named Allan Armadale, caught in the scheming web of Lydia Gwilt. Collins forged Armadale’s voluminous plot in tiny episodes as a very long-running serial, with the complete novel weighing in at well over 700 pages. In theory there could be countless ways to capture Collins’ unique blend of turgid romantic soap opera and social commentary into a stage play. Only the least imaginative would involve a script that stretches nearly three hours onstage, which is exactly what Hatcher has done here. Rather than carefully choose the most dramatic scenes in the novel to construct a graceful, deftly-paced plot, Hatcher has slapped together a script that lurches, heaves and gasps across the stage, occasionally running when it should walk, jumping when it should crouch, leaving stranded the few truly captivating moments of drama, comedy and beauty.

For all its pedigree, The Rep’s world premier production of Armadale fits one of the most common profiles in local theater: a remarkably talented cast thrown at a less-than-inspired script. While the cast manages to salvage some of the script’s less entertaining moments, more often than not, decent talent goes underutilized. Brian Vaughn and Michael Gotch play the Allans, with Vaughn in peak form here as a wealthy man caught up in forces beyond his control. But Gotch, though up to his usual standards, seems to be thrown at a far from interesting character. In stand-out performances, Gerard Neugent brilliantly plays an investigator with a few fleeting but hilarious moments, and Emily Trask is excellent in her twin roles (the last before she leaves town to begin an MFA program at the Yale School of Drama). Living up to her high visibility in the Rep’s promotional material for the play, Milwaukee Rep Resident Actress Deborah Staples gives one of her best performances in years as the story’s incomparable femme fatale: Ms. Lydia Gwilt. VS

The Milwaukee Rep’s production of Armadale runs through May 25 at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theatre. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the Rep box office at 414-224-9490 or visit the Rep online.

Wilkie Collins’ original novel Armadale is in pubic domain and can be found free of charge online.