THEATER REVIEW:Fear, pride, uninspired direction

Despite frustratingly static direction, "Phaedra," playing in repertory at A Noise Within in Glendale, delivers some solid performances and first-rate production values.

Jean Racine's version of this millennia-old tale involving Greek royals contains the human errors and emotional foundation necessary for a full-blown tragedy.

What's puzzling, then, is the stiff manner in which director Sabin Epstein has chosen to present the piece. Following an opening tableau that resembles a reversed curtain call, the cast of eight robotically takes its place offstage. Many of the subsequent scenes in this 95-minute, intermissionless show appear as if the characters' movements on-stage have been minimized, which slows the tempo. Racine's play hinges on a snowballing of events and missteps on the part of characters who have a great deal to lose. So, with this level of potential loss at stake, why does Epstein hamper his cast with lengthy scenes unbroken, for the most part, by character-based movement?

Peopled with a mix of company stalwarts and some newcomers, the actors pull their weight evenly. And yet, whether attempting to focus on Racine's lofty language or assuming a presentational form of purity, Epstein's concept makes for a very slow acceleration in energy.

In a moment of questionable judgment, Queen Phaedra (Jenna Cole) confesses her love for stepson Hippolytus (J. Todd Adams) who has declared his own affection for Aricia (Dorothea Harahan).

Meanwhile, Phaedra's hubby, King Theseus (Mark Bramhall), currently presumed dead, returns home and things continue on the downslide.

Turning in strong performances are Bramhall and Harahan, along with June Claman as Phaedra's nurse, Oenone, and Robertson Dean playing Hippolytus' tutor, Theramenes, despite Epstein's stand-still-and-deliver-thelines staging.

The play was penned in the 17th century and utilizes rhyming couplets. While most of the cast handled this form of language with ease, J. Todd Adams, as Hippolytus, the object of Phaedra's lust, fares less successful in finding a comfort zone with Racine's language.

But oh, how Jenna Cole, in the title role, makes up for any slack in their scenes. Trapped in paranoid frustration, Cole's embodiment of the tortured monarch is a perfect mix of subtle fear and vicious pride.

Once again, this company demonstrates its attention to first-rate technical support for its productions. Michael Smith's elegantly simple set is cleanly illuminated by Peter Gottlieb while Jennifer Brawn Gitting's era-mixed costuming is unquestionably appropriate.

FYI

WHAT: “Phaedra” by Jean Racine

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, running in repertory through Nov. 19 with “A Touch of the Poet” by Eugene O’Neill and “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare

WHERE: A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

TICKETS: $34 to $38.

PHONE: 240-0910, ext. 1 or www.anoisewithin.org