Reviewed by Laura Kennelly
Witches just aren’t what they used to be. At least that’s my impression after watching Bell, Book, and Candle at the Cleveland Play House. This gentle comedy directed by Michael Bloom spins a tale about a witch with love problems. Poor Mr. Shepherd Henderson falls (literally) under the spell of Miss Gillian Holroyd, a girl who lives in the same New York City apartment building. She’s used to using men and then moving on because if witches fall in love, they lose their witchy powers.
Gillian, played with restraint and glamor by Georgia Cohen, fights to avoid this ultimate sacrifice. Eric Martin Brown shows Henderson to be a likeable, but extremely thick-witted fellow. Patricia Kilgarriff, as Gillian’s aunt, steals the show as a bouncy, slightly crazed (but in a very nice way) fellow witch. Mark Moritz (as Sidney Redlitch, expert in the occult) and Jeremy Webb (as Gillian’s nosy cousin) add energy to the production.
The set (Gillian’s living room), her ridiculous cat, the costumes are all first-rate and contribute to a pleasant evening of theatre. And the Allen Theatre itself continues to be wonderful place to spend time in.
But the witch story hasn’t aged well. It’s a very mid-twentieth century fantasy whose shock and awe factor has been gentled by shows such as Wicked and Bewitched. Witches are popular now; we love them. If only she had been a vampire or a zombie there might have been a reason to side with the righteous indignation of the man who had been enchanted.
But as it is, hey, isn’t that what love is all about? Aren’t we still supposed to be “bewitched, bothered, and bewildered” (thank you Rogers and Hart and the 1940s) when we meet that special someone? What difference does it make if she’s a witch? It’s a sweet story, but not sexy or spooky.
Bell, Book and Candle by John van Druten continues at the Allen Theatre through Feb. 3, 2013. For tickets or information go to http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.
Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.
Cleveland, OH 44115