"Hillbarn Theatre's 'Notebook of Trigorin' a noble and mostly successful ambition"
If you want to know what happens when you blend Chekhov's brooding "The Sea Gull" with Tennessee Williams' more poetic sensibilities, then catch Hillbarn Theatre's current production of "The Notebook of Trigorin."
Combining Chekhov and Williams is somewhat like making a sandwich of blackberry jelly and peanut butter; one flavor tends to overwhelm the other.
This erratic play, one of Williams' last works, never made it to Broadway and, in fact, has been mounted sparingly since it was performed in Cincinnati in 1996 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the original drama.
Credit director Dave Sikula, however, with having the good casting sense to put two sensational actors in it. Whenever the scene-stealing Bobbi Fagone (as vain Russian actress Irina Arkadina) or the coquettish, winsome Loring Williams (as aspiring actress Nina Zarechnaya) are onstage, the action sizzles. Sadly, they're not always onstage.
Fagone is eminently capable of commanding the stage, whether she's
by Joanne Englehardt
media 3/26/08