REVIEW: The Blonde, the Brunett, and the Vengeful Redhead

Performance Network Theatre

From the New Monitor

One actress, five talkative characters

By Daniel Skora

The Performance Network Theatre in Ann Arbor has opened its new season with a captivating production of Robert Hewett's smartly written play, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead. The show takes a look at the humorous and tragic events that result from a phone call that suburban housewife Rhonda Russell receives from her husband informing her that he is leaving.

Hewett lays out his story through the monologues of seven characters who are related in some fashion to the events of the story. As such, points-of-view are diverse and often conflicting, and details come in piecemeal, giving a kind of quilted look to the whole affair of the play.

Soon after Rhonda receives the call from her husband, she is spurred into action by her busybody of a neighbor, Lynette. Events turn ugly and tragic when, at a nearby shopping mall, Rhonda confronts someone whom she believes to be the "other woman" in her husband's life. As a result of that confrontation, the lives of everyone concerned become altered irrevocably.

Hewett is a master at showing the ripple effects of human actions and emotions. By and large, his characters are unable to project how unkind words or deeds become magnified as they worm their way into the lives of others, often times with disastrous effects.

He has also crafted a script of seven characters with the explicit intention that all of those characters be played by a single actress. And here's where the Performance Network's production hits a high-water mark. Suzi Regan turns in a bravura performance portraying all seven of those characters: Rhonda, her neighbor Lynette, a Russian jewelry dealer, a doctor and an elderly grandmother. Her achievement is no easy feat considering that each of the five women portrayed have vastly divergent personalities, and that the other two characters are a middle-aged man and a four-and-a-half year old boy.

Costumes, which Regan changes on stage behind backlit screens, are only part of what she uses for her character transformations. Changes in voice inflections, facial expressions and body posturing are all tools in her repertoire that go into her creating this astonishing array of different characters.

How the plot develops and how all of the characters fit into the story that Hewett wishes to tell are best to be discovered watching the show. There are more than a few surprises and a good many twists and turns to the story, and giving out too much would spoil the viewing experience. Suffice it to say, not much in this intriguing story is predictable, and it certainly makes for a wonderful night of theater.

David Wolber directs, and costumes are by Monika Essen, with Regan's often-humorous costume changes part of the entertainment. Story is paramount in this show, so all of the props and furniture on the rather spartan set could fit into an 8 x 10 room. Lighting is especially important, with both set and lighting design by Daniel C. Walker.

SHOW DETAILS:

"The Blonde, the Brunette, and the Vengeful Redhead" runs through October 11. For tickets and information, call the box office at 734-663-0681 or visit performancenetwork.org. The theater is located at 120 East Huron Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Reprinted with permission of the New Monitor, Sept. 24, 2009

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