 |
| Dean Santoro, Sasha von Scherler. (Photos: Zodiac,) |
 |
| Robert Ronan, Valerie French. |
Many readers will
assume that what follows is about the revival of Trelawny of the Wells that helped give another boost to Meryl
Streep’s skyrocketing career in the 1970s. However, that revival, which appeared
at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre in October 1975, and, like this
one, was produced by Joe Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival, falls
outside the parameters of this series, which ends following the 1974-1975
season.
 |
| Robert Ronan, Valerie French. |
Pinero’s 1898 comedy
of life among the members of a British provincial theatrical company (first
seen in New York in 1911) met with mixed reviews in this first production of the decade (the
second was far more successful). Clive Barnes called it “a winner,” full of
style and panache,” “a dear, darling and only slightly sentimental play,” one
that Richard Watts considered a “thoroughgoing delight.”
Stanley Kauffmann,
however, thought the show “slovenly,” poorly cast and staged. Walter Kerr
enjoyed it but pointed out that it was overdone in various places, producing a
rough, uneven result. Edith Oliver ranked it as “pretty bad” and misunderstood
by the company. And John Simon, pointing to its stylistic errors, noted that “to
give the play an amateurish, un-British . . . , imprecise and unevocative production
makes it all rather like a billiard table with the felt ripped off.”
The
large company included Frederic Warriner as James Telfer, Geoff Garland as
Augustus Colpoys, Michael Wager as Ferdinand Gadd, Robert Ronan (who also
directed) as Tom Wrench, Sasha von Scherler as Avonia Bunn, Nancy Dussault as
Rose Trelawny, Valerie French as Imogen Parrott, Gene Nye as O’Dwyer, Elaine
Eldridge as Mrs. Telfer, and George Bartenieff as Sir William Gower.
*The show was forced
to close on November 16, 1970, after 46 performances, because of an
Off-Broadway actors’ strike. However, cast member Michael Wager organized a
committee to raise $10,000 and managed to reopen the production on December 24,
1970, for an additional 21 performances, after the strike was settled.
For those curious about the revival's star and director, Robert Ronan, here is his brief obituary in the Times of April 9, 1977.
Robert A. Ronan, an actor in many productions of the New York Shakespeare Festival, died Wednesday of injuries received when fire destroyed his home at 143 Goldenrod Avenue in Franklin Park, L. I. He was 41 vears old.
Mr. Ronan, an actor since his undergraduate days at Hofstra University, made his. New York debut in 1965 as the Minstrel in the Phoenix Theater's production of “Dr. Faustus.”
His most notable achievements were directing “Trelawny of the Wells” and acting the role of Tom Wrench, a playwright, in the 1970 revival of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's play at the Public Theater, with Nancy Dussault as Rose Trelawny.
