Kreith Kreitman:  smdailyjournal.com

It’s certainly unique to have a review of a stage play open with a rave about the excellence of the set. Designed by Robert Broadfoot, it was constructed by Lee Basham, who always surprises with his creativity on a stage as limited as Hillbarn Theatre. 

That set of the living room of a wealthy Southern family in the spring of 1900, is a harbinger of the excellence of the production to follow. It may be Hillbarn’s best ever.

The Lillian Hellman play “The Little Foxes,” is a tour de force for actors, a beautifully constructed work with very sharp and intelligent dialogue from pre-World War II Broadway. It owes much to Chekov and Ibsen. Such plays are rarely written for the postwar stage.

I often comment about the extraordinary talent we have available for community theaters on the South Peninsula. I have admired the work of most of this cast in other productions and in “Foxes” each has exceeded any of their previous performances I have reviewed. I think it would be difficult to assemble a better cast, even with professionals.

“The Little Foxes” is a plot dredged from Lillian Hellman’s own family history in the Deep South.  There are three adult siblings from the Hubbard family, born of a wealthy, self-made, middle class father, one of those who, as successful merchants and factory owners, filled the vacuum of power left by the decline of a Southern aristocracy that was unable to adjust to the new reality after the Civil War.

As was conventional in those days, when women were still the second class progeny in families, the brothers Oscar (Michael Sally) and Benjamin (John Baldwin) inherited the bulk of the estate, leaving sister Regina (Toni Tomei) to fend for herself by marrying the well-to do banker Horace Giddens (Craig C. Lewis), in order to preserve her social standing in the community.

When the brothers work out a business venture with a Chicago investor William Marshall (Jerry Hickock), to build a factory that, with the lower wages of the South, would exploit the workers and liberated slave class, it launches all three siblings into dreams of splendor and wealth.

The outstanding problem, however, is Regina needs to persuade her husband to invest her one-third share. But, he has been away for five months at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore with a severe heart condition. So, she needs to send her daughter Alexandra (Tina Jones) to induce him to return.

In order to keep the prospective wealth in the family, the brothers begin scheming to have Oscar’s son Leo (Adam Simpson), marry Alexandra, despite the fact they are first cousins.

Perhaps, the most tragic figure in this family is Oscar’s wife Birdie (Mary Moore), the only true “aristocrat” in the family, who has become an alcoholic after she realized he had married her in order access her father’s properties.

Overseeing the welfare of Horace and Alexandra from this ruthless bunch is the alert and worldly–wise African-American housekeeper Addie (Teleza Newkirk).

Under the direction of Linda Piccone, the performances are exceptional. In the role of the Regina Giddens, Artistic Director Toni Tomei, who hasn’t performed in four years, reminds us of what we have been missing during that lull.

As for Michael Sally and John Baldwin, who play the brothers whose ruthlessness pales in the light of their sister Regina, I have written before I don’t believe either of these would be capable of giving a bad performance.

Versatile Craig C. Lewis is very impressive as Regina’s dignified and humane husband Horace. And, I believe Mary Moore, who is always excellent, has achieved the emotional “role of a lifetime” as the beautiful but abused and embittered daughter of the faded aristocracy. 

Newcomer to the Bay Area Tina Jones is just perfect as Regina’s sensitive daughter, whose love comforts and protects her invalided and doomed father, as is Adam Simpson in the thankless role of subordination to and abuse by his father Oscar. Louis Schilling (alternating with Stephen Maddox) is the butler and handyman about the house.

A word needs to be mentioned about lighting designer John Bernard whose light spotting added much to the dramatic mood of the conflict unfolding in that unhappy family living room.

This play has been one of the most successful of the old Broadway days and if you would like to refresh your memory of how great some of those plays were, this is the one to see.

Review: Stunning cast saves outdated '”Little Foxes"

By Joanne Engelhardt
MediaNews Correspondent

Article Launched: 10/27/2008 11:29:18 AM PDT

www.contracostatimes.com

Were Lillian Hellman alive today, she might have considered setting her classic play "The Little Foxes" on Wall Street. It's not difficult to imagine giant heaps of greed, cruelty and corruption in that setting.

It's a stretch, however, to imagine these characteristics so rampant in a prosperous Southern family that lives in a small town in 1900. Manners, civility and graciousness should be the norm in such surroundings.

But, as audiences at Hillbarn Theatre's current production of "Foxes" quickly discover, appearances are sadly deceiving.

In many ways, Hellman's play is woefully in need of some updating. Some characters are annoyingly stereotyped (the black maid; the alcoholic, abused wife), and the idea of getting so worked up that you steal a relative's money out of his safe deposit box to build a cotton mill — well, there are certainly better (and legal) ways to accomplish that aim today.

But when "The Little Foxes" opened on Broadway in 1939, Americans were much closer to class struggles and insensitive to equality for women. In 2008 the edge is gone from these themes, due, in large part, to the other enormous challenges in the world.

What saves this production — in fact, what make it worth seeing — are the remarkable performances of several actors in the cast and the tight direction of Linda Piccone. Top that with a smashing set, costumes and wigs, and the result is must-see theatre.

In the tradition of such formidable stage villainesses as Tallulah Bankhead (who originated the role of Regina Giddens on Broadway), Bette Davis (who starred in the 1941 movie adaptation), Elizabeth Taylor and Anne Bancroft, Hillbarn's artistic director Toni Tomei cunningly unfolds a multilayered persona that, deep down, has one of the coldest hearts in the history of the stage.

Last seen onstage four years ago as Dolly in "Hello Dolly!" Tomei impressively struts her dramatic pedigree as a woman who, all her life, has had to endure her father's ultimate unkindness: He left her two brothers his fortune, believing women were unfit to share equally his wealth.

Her theatrics are matched pound for pound by Michael Sally as her unpleasant, sour-faced, wife-beating brother Oscar. At times, he's so uncannily slimy you forget he's acting. Mary Moore exudes heartbreak as Birdie, Oscar's flighty, weak, put-upon wife. Over the years, she's come to realize that Oscar married her only to gain control of her childhood home. Her scattered, nostalgic monologue while lying on the living room lounge is wrenching.

Other standouts include Craig C. Lewis as Regina's ailing husband, Horace; John Baldwin as elder brother Ben; and Adam Simpson as Oscar and Birdie's not-too-smart son, Leo.

As Regina's daughter, Alexander, Tina Jones lacks the spunk and verve you'd expect genetically; while Teleza Newkirk's maid Addie needs to be more emotionally connected.

What can be said about a set that takes your breath away? Award-winning scenic designer Robert Broadfoot, with able assistance from technical director Lee Basham, has created a period living room that exudes just the right tone. The wooden stairway is wide and commanding; and the dining room, seen through double glass doors, opens up the stage to other locations.

Credit costume designer Abra Berman with lush, rich feminine dresses for Tomei and Moore (the pastel plaid dress she wore in Act 3 was particularly stunning). Dee Morrissey's expertly coifed wigs were equally impressive.