Repertory Theatre

Press, 11 March 1985, Page 8

Repertory Theatre

“Nuts,” at the Repertory Theatre, directed by Penny Giddens, for the Repertory Society. March 9 to 16 at 8 p.m. Running time: 2hr smin. Reviewed by Stephen Quinn. Some of the strangest and most compelling human dramas unfold in court. Amid the formality and procedures of the legal system, the whole range of human aspirations and deprivations eventually appears. The writer, Tom Topor, a court reporter with the "New York Post,” has fashioned a gusty and riveting piece of theatre which depicts a woman’s fight to prove her sanity and obtain the right to plead in open court. This form of theatre has the potential to sink into a morass of inanity, all in the name of soul-searching and real drama. Topor has avoided this by presenting the facts simply and directly, and letting the action tell the story. This requires a strong cast and the director, Penny Giddens, must be congratulated in obtaining several sterling efforts from her people. The casting is spoton, and all characters are extremely believable. Heather Giles is excellent as fflaudia Faith Draper, a woman in her 20s accused

of manslaughter who is unable to fight her case in court because she is said to be insane. Her parents, not wanting the publicity and shame associated with the case, seek to have her declared mentally unstable and unfit to stand trial. Heather Giles delivers her lines with bitter lucidity, all flaying arms and agitated emotions. At times on the opening night, as the play reached its terrible climax, she was so cruelly caustic that I winced. The feelings of caged anger and desperate intensity were beautifully and compellingly presented. As her mother and stepfather, Wendy Walker and Robert Britten were equally fine. Robert Britten’s evidence in the second act was a scathing succession of acid-dipped homilies on life, delivered with dead-pan smugness. It becomes apparent that his professed love for his daughter is yet another commodity, to be bought and sold. Various aspects of love are considered in the play, and the message is strongly conveyed that it is yet another item to be traded in an uncaring society. As a child Claudia Faith had been trained to sell her love to her parents; as an adult

and a divorced woman she sells her body in a fashionable part of New York. We are presented with a bleak picture of modern American society in this play in which love is “thrown around like a frisbee,” and in which lawyers can be hired to put people away in psychiatric hospitals for up to 17 years without a trial. Robert Spigel deserves commendation here as the defence lawyer. He looks and sounds just right, in his shiny suit and complete with natty beard and Jewish mother. The intensity he gives to the role is admirable. For all the gloom we encounter, the play ends with a gleam of hope. Justice seems to be displayed. John Howden as Judge Murdoch allows Claudia Faith the right to stand, trial. As an aside, one of the many ironies of the production is the choice of the name for the judge. Topor has given him the same name as Rupert Murdoch, the press magnate who owns the “New York Post.” It is this irony, plus a fine script complemented by fiery acting, that makes this a memorable production worthy of patronage. The same train of events could also occur in New Zealand.