Lillian Hellman, author of “The Little Foxes,” which is now in production at the Cleveland Playhouse, was a rebel with many causes. An independent woman in an era before the women’s rights and liberation movements, she had strong political and societal opinions. Because of her liberal affiliations she was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. She was “a smoker, a drinker, a lover, and a fighter, who took stands against and placed a negative spotlight on greed, ambition and misguided principles.” She was an advocate for the downtrodden. These principles are at the foundation of “The Little Foxes.”
“The Little Foxes,” is set in the
beautifully appointed home of Horace and Regina Giddens in a small Alabama town
at the turn of the century. Regina
is one of three Hubbard siblings.
Her brothers, Ben and Oscar, have inherited a store that takes financial
advantage of the area’s Black population.
Regina married Horace,
not out of love, but because he was her ticket to getting the “things” she
wanted out of life. Her brother,
Ben, is a controlling schemer who wants to jump onto the success bandwagon of
the Gilded Age of the 1900s, no matter the cost. Brother Oscar, lazy, psychologically weak and undisciplined,
married Birdie as his entrance into the prestige of being part of the “old
south. “ He verbally and physically abuses Birdie, who is too timid to stand up
to Oscar’s attacks. Their unlikeable son, Leo, is a carbon copy of his father,
willing to be Ben’s pawn, in order to be financially successful.
In contrast to the
Hubbards, Horace, his daughter Alexandra, the black housekeepers, Addie and
Cal, and Birdie, are decent and respectable people.
The Hubbard’s latest
scheme is the building of a cotton mill in their town. The idea is sound, as it would avoid
shipping the south’s raw cotton to the north, thus insuring profits. The problem? They don’t have the money to pull off the transaction, so
they make a deal with a Chicago company.
They scheme to get the seed money from Horace, who is ill and in the
hospital in Baltimore. The
opportunity comes when Leo, who is working at his uncle Horace’s bank, finds
out that there are $80,000 worth of negotiable bonds in a strong box in his
uncle’s office.
Intrigue increases when
Horace returns home, and Regina’s disdain for everything about him, except his
money, becomes obvious. Horace has
a heart attack. Will Regina give
him his needed medicine? Will the
stolen bond scheme work? Will Regina’s blackmail of her brothers succeed, or
will Ben’s parting remark, “What was a man in a wheelchair doing on a
staircase?” be the undoing of Regina?
Will Alexandra be swept up in the family intrigue or will she flee?
The CPH production, under
the focused direction of Laura Kepley, is intriguing. The script, which is written in a traditional 1930s format
of three acts (exposition, telling the tale, and resolution) has been
compressed by eliminating the intermission between acts II and III, and
tightening some dialogue. The
pacing fits the southern way of life, yet doesn’t drag. Accents are finely honed, and character
motivations clear.
The cast is universally
excellent. Maggie Lacey creates a
Regina who is evil incarnate.
Cameron Folmar is scheming and snarly as Ben. Jerry Richardson clearly creates Oscar as a despicable
spineless bully. Nick Barbato
presents a Leo, who is as whining, weak willed duplicate of his father, Oscar.
Donald Carrier is a
mirror of perseverance and moral strength as Horace. The lovely Megan King creates an Alexandra who is the
shining hope that something good may well emerge from this dysfunctional
family. Heather Anderson Boll is appropriately bewildered and manipulated as
Birdie, a true southern belle, better suited for cotillions than real
life. Sherrie Tolliver is
impressive as the strong willed but gentle Addie, the Carrier family maid and
Alexandra’s guide and protector.
Kim Sullivan has nice comic moments as Cal, the family butler. Robert Ellis presents William Marshall
as a businessman who may feel comfortable with being part of a scheme with some
shady overtones.
One of the difficulties
of doing a period piece is whether to be true to the period set and costume
designs. Lex Liang, the
production’s scenic and costume designer, based on Kepley’s desire to give a
modern feel to the production, has taken the influence of the 1900s
transitional aesthetic era and eliminated the heavy look of the furniture and
costumes, creating sleek modifications in the style, thus retaining the right feel
and vision, but not being absolutely true to the era. The gorgeous set and costumes work well in creating the
right illusion.
CAPSULE JUDGMENT: Lillian Hellman’s “The Little
Foxes” is a classic American play which probes into the values, ethics and morals
of a group of southerners at the turn of the century. This is a play and production well worth seeing thanks to
Hellman’s writing, Kepley’s directing, the excellent acting, and well-conceived
technical aspects. It makes for a
fine opening offering in this, CPH’s ninety-ninth year.
Lillian Hellman’s “The
Little Foxes” runs through October 5, 2014 at the Allen Theatre in
PlayhouseSquare. For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com
