Indulgences in the Louisville Harem

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

The program at Germinal Stage Denver says there are four people in the cast for John Orlock’s play Indulgences in the Louisville Harem. It lists Lori Hansen, Theresa Reid, Terry Burnsed and Stephen R. Kramer. That indicates four characters.

Lori Hansen as Florence and Theresa Reid as Viola in Germinal Stage Denver’s production of Indulgences in the Louisville Harem.

Simple enough.

Hansen and Reid play two turn of the century spinster sisters living in the same house in Louisville since they were small children. An “UNC-le,” as they refer to him, comes by periodically to make sure the house remains in good order. Having lived in dis-quiet solitude for several years, a mail order catalogue for male companions mysteriously appears.

A simple story, of two lonely cut-off-from-the-world by their own scissors middle-aged women who decide to do something brash and uncharacteristic by indulging themselves.

Right?

Wrong?

There is nothing simple about this story.

As soon as the stage lights peer into the 1902 parlor of Florence Becker (Hansen) and Viola Becker (Reid), it is clear nothing simple is about to unfold.

Directed and designed by Ed Baierlein, Indulgences stands to prove what a master of the visual arts he really is. Incredible understanding of the play is demanded by the cast. Impeccable timing must be adhered to. Orlock’s play demands perfection. Anything less than that would mark disaster. The cast delivers with awesome open-mouthed expectations.

Every move is made in slow motion indicating an upside down world, a carousel of fantasies, a tortured mind reveling in loss and wants, or a collision of universes meshing in a cloudy dream.

Addressing the audience, Florence explains the parlor is closed during the week. Viola remembers a dream where she had a wooden leg cut off by some mysterious man, and “there’s no medicine for dreams any more.” Was there medicine for dreams once upon a time? That’s the first of many questions that fly through the mind. Florence chides Viola for squishing her peas. Viola explains why she likes to squish the peas one at a time. They speak to the audience more than they speak to each other. They remember when they were little girls.

Mysteriously, a mail order catalogue, Mrs. Whiting’s New Book of Eligible Gentlemen, arrives. Prim and proper Florence stresses in horror at the pictures. Viola reacts in her woman-child mannerism with childish delight and curiosity. It is Viola who makes the pick and places the order for Amos N. Robbilet, a famous mesmerist from the Institute of Science and Populism. Once Florence’s girlish interior accepts the prospect, the two wait anxiously as two teenagers waiting for their prince in shining armor to arrive. Amos (Kramer) arrives, but he isn’t alone. An outspoken Winfield Davis (Burnsed) claiming to be Amos’ assistant arrives with him. Amos can’t speak. Winfield insisting he has a psychic connection to his collaborator speaks the words while Amos mouths them.

The slow motion continues throughout the entire play. Periodically Amos and Winfield enter upstage as though either standing outside the house, delivering mail, or playing mind games in the heads of the sisters.

Although brilliantly written in a Southern polite manner, and spoken with the well-mannered Southern accents, it is clear there are several things going on.

Viola remembers when she was a little girl. She misses the younger Viola. She doesn’t want to return to that time, but she wishes that Viola could be with her now. Perhaps she is more than she recognizes.

re these four who they say they are living in the same time and place? Are there two sisters? Or is there only one? Words and sentences have double and sometimes triple meanings. Amos and Winfield talk about the theatre and actors who speak words that aren’t their own. Is Orlock referring to roles everyone plays, having to speak someone else’s words and languages, never really learning to speak for him or herself?

The play indulges itself with a vast array of topics as the four play their word games. The sisters indulge themselves with wild rides of fancy and fantasy. The men double speak their way through indulges of a con artists dream. Yes, they are con artists of a royal degree. After the sisters agree to marriage, they discover the truth in their silverware drawer.

Symbolism walks the stage as a fifth character. Is this strictly a comedy? A drama? A whirlwind fantasy? An underscored social commentary? If I had to choose, I’d say it was all of the above and then some.

This is a play one wants to pay attention to very closely on two extraordinary levels. One because of what it says and does and how it does it, and two because of the absolute amazing brilliant performances provided by the four, Burnsed and Kramer must work in perfect unison all the while maintaining their distinctive characterizations. They do, and even during a preview performance they never missed a beat. (If they did, they covered their tracks with their own double-speak.) Burnsed’s ability to move in split second timing between Amos and Winfield is enough to hypnotize the entire audience. There are plenty of laughs all the while the mind is scheming up the next question. Who are these people, really?

Hansen’s comedic expertise with the tiniest muscle inflection all the while maintaining prim and proper keeps the giggle muscle constantly in motion.

Reid’s magnetic woman-child indulgences of the mind match her large inquisitive eyes as she takes us inside the mind of a lonely tortured woman whose child like fantasies ease her isolation.

Four cast members but are there four characters, or three, or only one? Do they live in Louisville, Kentucky or in the mind of a child trapped in a woman’s body taking a wild indulgent fantasy ride to escape a humdrum isolated existence?

Officially opening Friday, November 18, at Germinal Stage Denver Indulgences is a magnificent production, showcasing amazing talent. On the one level it is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. On another level it tweaks the imagination raising questions that sometime giggle, and sometime drives to the core of human nature. However and whatever the schedule, it definitely deserves to be on the must see list. This is sheer total genius at work by Baierlein, Hansen, Reid, Burnsed, and Kramer.