Babbitt, Shakespeare Theatre Company

 It's been a little jarring seeing the frequency of big name stars in the marketing for this season at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Don't worry what they're here to do, just come see that actor you remember from Downton!  Most often, it's been Matthew Broderick gazing affably out in a dapper hat, to celebrate his turn in Babbitt, an adaption by Joe DiPietro of the novel by Sinclair Lewis. However acclaimed the novel might be, it's clearly not the draw here--Broderick alone is. And making Names the focus of your production is a risky venture that doesn't always pan out artistically, whatever it may do for your bottom line at the end of the fiscal year.

Matthew Broderick in Babbitt at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Halfway through this production, directed by Christopher Ashley, I had to take my own (purely metaphorical) hat off, however, because Broderick's work is truly excellent here.  He plays excellent, specific variation of a comedic straight man, perfectly in tune with Ashley's production and DiPietro's adaptation. I can't speak to how the play sits alongside the original novel and where nuances might have come in or out, but I can note that it's been a long time since I've seen the simple act of watching an actor sit down make an audience laugh so much.  At the same time, Broderick is able to hold onto the smallness and selfishness of Babbitt, using his own likeability to bring out the contrast as Babbitt gives in to his worse angels.

It's a wonderfully cohesive production, with elements that come together so naturally it might be easy to overlook the constituent parts. Walt Spangler's set begins as a spare library but proves suited to numerous transformations and provides a beautiful canvas for Cha See's lighting design. Linda Cho's costume designs work well to establish the modern Storytellers in the cast with simple, modern lines, and then provides various additional pieces or complete new looks for the plethora of characters each ensemble actor then creates.


The cast of Babbitt at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

It's truly the work of the ensemble I find myself dwelling on, however. While Broderick only plays our titular middle class working man, the rest of the ensemble move constantly back and forth as narrative storytellers and into their own array of supporting characters who dart into the story and back out. Judy Kaye's bored high society wife, Chris Myers as Babbitt's teenage son striving to pass the cusp of manhood, and Ali Stroker transitioning beautifully out of Babbitt's young daughter into her perfectly pitched Storyteller persona to layer in knowledge of the character's future; again and again, the ensemble creates striking and fluid moments around the central performance by Babbitt in a way that works in beautiful harmony to create the cohesive theatrical whole, and it's one worth spending time with.





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