Theater Reviews

Dec 21, 2008 - Reno Little Theater's "Becket" proves loyalty is still what it used to be

By jack Neal

While playwright Jean Anouilh’s 1959 play about royal friendship and ecclesiastical intrigue, “Becket; or The Honor of God,” may not be perfect, it is fascinating.

Most popularly remembered from its 1964 film adaptation starring Richard Burton as Thomas Becket (who became Chancellor of England, then Archbishop of Canterbury) and Peter O’Toole as King Henry II of England, “Becket” is a tour de force for two actors. Reno Little Theater and director Holly Natwora have taken this celebrated play, and its accompanying production difficulties, on with a fierce determination to succeed. In part they do.

Natwora has cast two formidable actors, Michael Peters as Henry II and Jorge Hoyos as Thomas Becket, and they do watchable-to-excellent work bringing the loves and conflicts of these complicated men to life. Peters is formidable, but does not inhabit King Henry as comfortably as Hoyos inhabits Becket. Peters’ outbursts of frustration are more adolescent than regal. Hoyos brings a poetry of speech and song to his characterization that’s impressive.

From “warring and whoring together” to battling the Holy Roman Catholic Church (circa 1100), over power, money and jurisdiction, the appointment of Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury (a prerogative of the king) to solve church-state problems in favor of the throne is what Henry II thought he was doing.

But the loyalty the king expected from Becket regarding the battle between the Church of Rome and the throne of England, played out quite differently than expected. “You must remain king,” Becket proclaims, “and I must defend the honor of God.” Thus the fate of the two protagonists is sealed.

The play’s sixteen scenes covering four acts presents multiple problems for any community-theater budget. The unit set designed by Natwora and Lewis Zaumeyer comes close to solving many of those problems. Designed with three spaces that can be revealed individually or collectively by raising Venetian-style blinds, the production moves relatively freely.

Unfortunately, the look of this erector-set set promotes neither royal, nor cathedral grandeur. Nor does the hodge-podge costuming – some players in costume, others in street clothes – create an atmosphere that’s suitably grand for the play’s tumultuous argument over matters of church and state.

By the time Anouilh realized he had made a mistake in the writing of his play making Becket a Saxon rather than the Norman he was, it was too late. The psychology of the play was too far along for reconfiguration. Henry was a Norman, and creating a Saxon Becket made Becket doubly an outsider. Anouilh, who spent impressionable years in a France under Nazi rule, was well aware of an outsider’s role in state affairs. Skepticism by other members of the English royal court, including the possibility that Henry and Becket might have had a more intimate relationship, is a slightly veiled undertone of the play.

As Queen Mother Matilda, Nancy Podewils subtly raises the eyebrow of a mother’s concern with her son’s behavior. As Queen Eleanor, Henry’s wife, Kathleen Sharkey-Brockmeier portrays the kind of woman Henry would find most disagreeable. It is a major weakness of the play that its women are never allowed to rise above the level of stereotypes. Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most intelligent, vibrant women in history is made a simpering nincompoop, and that’s an insult both to women and to history.

Doug Mishler’s lighting often provides, especially the opening scene and Becket’s soliloquy scene, a visual atmosphere that impresses. Likewise, Gabriel Plank’s sound design provides many impressive mood-setting moments.

It’s brave of Reno Little Theater to produce such a complex play. In a cast of twenty playing more than thirty roles the pageant of personalities, in spite of reduced circumstances, affectingly shines through.

The Reno Little Theater presentation of “Becket” can be seen at the Hug High School Little Theater, Sutro Street and North McCarran Boulevard, Reno, Nevada, December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 (the performance reviewed), 20 (2008) at 7:30 p.m. and December 7, 14, 21 (2008) at 2 p.m. For information call 775-329-0661.