Fans of film noir will want to drive out to Geneseo to take in Richmond Hill Players’ production of the stage adaptation of Vera Caspary’s 1947 novel Laura, directed by John Donald O’Shea. Caspary collaborated with prolific Depression Era author and playwright, George Sklar, to adapt the novel for both the screen and stage. Supporting the excellence of the adaptation is that the 1948 film noir garnered five Oscar nominations and the film was selected by the Library of Congress in 1999 for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry and the American Film Institute named it one of the ten best mystery films of all time.
I’ve had to rely heavily on background from the film noir genre because it was difficult to find equivalent information relating to the stage. Common elements contained in the noir genre are: an emphasis on cynical attitudes and motivation, a femme fatale, low key lighting, and fast and brief dialog.
This 1940’s plot revolves around the investigation into the shotgun murder of Laura Hunt, by Detective Mark McPherson at Laura’s fashionable New York apartment. In the course of his investigation he falls in love with the now deceased Laura. He also encounters several significant people in Laura’s life: long time bon vivant friend and news columnist, Waldo Lydecker, her fishy fiancé, Shelby Carpenter, lovesick teenager, Danny, and Danny’s mother – all of whom are suspects . The investigation is capsized when Laura shows up and McPherson must now untangle the sticky web of facts and prevarications surrounding the case.
Dana Skiles as Laura and Eric Friedman as McPherson are solid in their roles, but I didn’t feel that je ne sais quoi electric tension. Perry Farley does a rather striking job as Shelby Carpenter but casting a high school student as the fiancé of a mature female was a bit challenging to accept.
The standouts in this production are Tom Akers as the flamboyant Waldo Lydecker who delivers a deliciously, devilish snark and Jonathan Freadhoff as the nerdy teenager Danny who elicits a very sympathetic “aww” factor.
Now let’s circle back to the criteria mentioned above for the noir genre. The show was a bit of a slog pre-intermission with a rather laissez faire vibe but improved after the intermission and a more sinister lighting scheme would have literally created the noir.
There were some things that I found difficult to get past, that being costuming and hairstyles that were totally wrong for the 1940’s. Shelby sported a rather long pony tail and Laura’s hair had no style at all. Danny’s mother appeared to forgo hosiery and Laura’s costumes were simply inaccurate. It’s the little things that take “good” shows to “outstanding” productions.
Laura continues at Richmond Hill Players Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Thursday through Saturday, June 6 through 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 9 at 3:00 p.m.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.