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 The
Concord Player's much anticipated production of Evita packed a powerful
sense of realism and acting skill into its sold-out Friday night performance.
Evita,
a physically demanding and politically loaded musical drama, is one
of the most challenging pieces to be undertaken by a theater company.
It is the story of Eva Peron, born into a peasant family who rose from
poverty to become not only the wife of Argentine president Juan Peron,
but one of the most powerful - and controversial - woman that Latin
America has ever seen.
Director
Kirsten Gould is to be commended for her concept of combining documentary
slides and photographs into the musical which conveyed to the audience
a sense of "realness" and understanding of Argentina in the 1940s. In
fact, in the lobby of 51 Walden Argentine music played and the walls
donned photos and quotes that invited theater goers into the life of
Eva Peron before the show began.
This
is an emotion-packed musical which begins and ends with Evita's death.
Act I opens to a group of Argentineans at the cinema whose movie is
interrupted by the announcement of Eva Peron's death. This is followed
by an intriguing transition of these carefree theatergoers into mourners,
who are then joined by more Argentine people in a Requiem for Evita.
It was a very moving opening carried off by a confident and melodic
company.
The
first of the five main players, Che, played by Scott Fisher, then made
his appearance. Che, an Argentine military leader, plays the Devil's
advocate to the peasants seemingly blind admiration of Evita, and also
acts as narrator of Evita's life.
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Don't Cry For Me, Argentina
His
appearance in over half the scenes makes for a particularly demanding
role, and one in which Fisher performed with such confidence that
even when not singing, his presence on the sidelines, eyeing the Perons,
was powerfully felt. However, it is his strong and clear voice that
most conveyed the powerful defiance of this man.
Marc
Clermont plays Magaldi, a lounge singer who brings Eva from her humble
origins to the excitement of Buenos Aires, and is the first of her
apparently many lovers. Clermont, a newcomer to The Players, brings
humor to his role of a struggling singer and conveys it with a touch
of sadness as he sees himself so readily replaced in the big city.
We
first see Eva as a young peasant girl being swept away by Magaldi,
and watch as she then transforms herself into a rather wild actress
and then political leader. Shana Dirik appropriately steals the show
in the title role with a beautiful voice and full understanding of
her character's complicated persona. Evita's short life was a continuos
internal conflict between yearning to help the very poor she came
from and her own personal greed. Ms. Dirik, an actress since the age
of 10, has the ability to subtly register the emotions of her character
in facial and bodily movements, and quite dramatically, in a remarkable
voice. In fact, her performance appeared to be transformed along with
her character's development; continually improving throughout the
performance, and perhaps reaching a dazzling peak with the renowned
"Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" scene of Act II.
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