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Review: Powerful, well-cast 'Forest' is tour de force for new troupe

By Candace Chaney Contributing Theater Critic

On the heels of its successful debut production, of The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, newborn theater troupe On the Verge returns with Hellman's prequel, the powerful, well-done and exquisitely cast Reconstruction drama Another Part of the Forest.

Set in 1880 Demopolis, Ala., the play follows the Hubbards, a Southern family with modest, non-aristocratic roots whose patriarch, Marcus, aggressively pursued war profiteering during the Civil War. Now that the war is over, the Hubbards are one of the few Southern families not economically ruined. In fact, they are quite wealthy. But they are also despised by the community. A few minutes into the play, it is easy to see why.

Not only are they perceived as traitors against the Confederacy, the Hubbards are unabashedly enterprising and ruthlessly self-serving as individuals, each spinning a separate web of Machiavellian pursuits. Frequently, they employ faux Southern gentility as their weapon of choice, though occasionally all perceived order breaks down into emotional and physical violence.

Thematically sophisticated and elegantly wrought, Another Part of the Forest matches the grandeur of its period-appropriate setting, the Hunt-Morgan House in downtown Lexington. Like the earlier production of The Little Foxes at the nearby Bodley-Bullock House, this show works in symbiosis with its space, including the small, limited audience who follow the play's actions from room to room throughout the house.

The experience is sublime, indulgent and at times, a little surreal. Without the formal boundaries of any kind of stage, the audience is plunged into the action while remaining silently invisible. The result is an innovative experience that feels like a voyeuristic blend of stage and cinema. (I admit to imagining for a moment that I was inside a story on the holodeck on Star Trek, only with much, much better story lines and endless offerings of refreshments.)

The actors tailor their performances to this unconventional setting with considerable agility. The furtive exchange of knowing looks, subtle physical mannerisms, and lines delivered in a dramatic hush are the kinds of potent nuances that simply will not fly in more traditional theater venues, where the actors must exaggerate or disregard these tactics. The actors also must adjust to working in close — really close — proximity to the audience, another challenge that proves ultimately rewarding, particularly with the talented ensemble cast assembled by director Ave Lawyer.

Tara Adkins sinks her teeth into the meaty role of 20-year-old Regina Hubbard. Wielding her considerable intelligence and savvy beneath the veneer of Southern graces, Regina is as personally ambitious as her older brother Ben (Bob Singleton), but her power is limited by her gender. Her secret plan to go to Chicago and marry ex-Confederate soldier John Bagtry (Christopher Rose) is jeopardized by her father's unnatural jealousy and by Ben's plan to carve out his own fortune at whatever cost.

As the oldest son and protégé of his father, Singleton delivers a career-high performance as Ben Hubbard, who is vying to replace his father as head of the family fortune.

Other potent performances include Samantha Doane-Bates as Levinia Hubbard, the wife and mother who is summarily dismissed, even openly derided, by her children and husband for being "crazy" when hers is really just a case of hyper-religious morality and pure human kindness squashed and damaged by her cruel emotional surroundings. A devout woman who scandalously attends the black church and whose only true friends are among the servants and lower classes, Doane-Bates plays Levinia with alternating courage and fragility.

While these and other individual performances are noteworthy, this play is much more than the sum of its parts. Lawyer, the director, deserves praise for orchestrating an acting ensemble — and a fully realized production — that is a cohesive, organic unit as functional as the Hubbards are not.

What's more, her direction underscores some of the play's most compelling and complex themes, like the social ramifications of post-war fallout in the South, the centrality of money and enterprise to the American experience, the kindness and decency of the poor, and the limited life options available to women of the period.

The result is a sophomore production earning senior marks for its marriage of innovation and craft.