The
Country Girl
 Review
by Paul B. Cohen, LA Weekly |
 |
A late entry in Odets’ canon,
The Country Girl uses the medium of theater, and the central figure of
a failing actor, as a lens to view a disintegrated marriage. Odets’ best
work it is not — despite New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson’s claim
to the contrary — but the Colony Studio Theatre’s sturdy production wrings
out a satisfying level of drama. When hotshot young producer Bernie Dodd
(a steely Gil Bernardy) offers a lifeline lead role to aging thespian Frank
Elgin (Robert Budaska), overriding the objections of money man Phil Cook
(Kurt A. Boesen), Elgin’s long-suffering wife, Georgie (Melissa Hanson),
urges him to accept the part. What follows are Elgin’s struggles — not
only with learning his lines, his own self-confidence and repairing his
connection to Georgie, but with the temptations of the bottle. Using the
set designed for the Theatre’s currently running production of June Moon,
Tim O’Hare’s unhurried direction does test one’s patience. Act 2 is surprisingly
enthralling, however, primarily because of Budaska’s compelling delineation
of his lush character, allied by Bernardy and Hanson’s gritty support.
Copyright 1999, LA Weekly
Reprinted by permission
The
Country Girl at the Colony Theatre |
