Review of LOSING VENICE from Drama-Logue
April 16-22, 1992

Presented by Bottom’s Dream at the Attic Theatre Studio, 6562 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, and (213) 462-9720. Opened April 11, plays Thurs-Su, 8, closes May 3.

If you are in the mood for swashbuckling fun and a morally righteous play that attacks war, glory, chauvinism, rich people and a dozen other targets that inevitably catch the ire of a rebellious young Englishman (such as John Clifford, the playwright), then Losing Venice, filled with words and passion and the two interchangeable, is a nicely chaotic and untidy evening that thoroughly fills the bill.

Susan Gratch’s sets and lighting, obviously achieved on a shoestring, create 17^th century Spain and Venice with considerable taste and a good deal of imagination. Marcy Froelich’s costumes are complete from ruff to buskin even though she has had to deal with the same low budget. And when three of our heroes are tossed out of the theatre and onto the briny main, as James Martin’s versatile direction requires, we will find that Santa Monica Blvd. has been turned into the Adriatic Sea for the duration of Losing Venice.

The actors responsible for transforming the 30-seat studio from a hot rectangular room to Europe four centuries ago are part of a new company called Bottom’s Dream. All of them are enthusiastic, and four of the six on display here are quite radiant.

Losing Venice follows a sexually frustrated Spanish Duke to Venice and back again. Along for the expedition is Quevedo, his court poet, and Pablo, his manservant. They have many adventures along the way, and muck about with people’s lives with no regard for the consequences, but nothing that befalls them excites the passions of anyone more than Quevedo’s almost insane intoxication with the art of writing and what passes for philosophy from a poet’s perspective. Even a mother, somehow serene after the death of her infant child, does not stir emotions as much as Quevedo’s discovery that everything is interconnected and that all of us live in a "wonderous web of the world."

Mitchell Gossett (Quevedo) practically dances from curtain to curtain, drunk with the melody of spoken words, flinging gestures about that leave him barely balanced upright. Jeff Bennett as Pablo is informal and good-for-nothing, your classic 17^th century servant, and he is fine for the role but never adds much to it. The same is true of Susan Welby as his fellow servant and lady love, Maria, whose best moment comes when she essays the role of a nun in Act Two. Kudos to Richard Tyson, whose Duke is pompous, flustered, arrogant and wretched by turns – but never boring! Likewise, the intelligent Christine Dunford, who plays a tricky Duchess who cannot tolerate domination. They make a wonderful pair, this hapless Duke and determined Duchess….unfortunately, they are quite incompatible. Last but not least, Daniel Riordan plays three roles with compelling grace. His mad King is the best of the three, but his joyfully homicidal Pirate and coy Mrs. Doge are nothing to sneeze at.

And neither, in toto, is Losing Venice. - BRUCE FELD