THE APOLOGY (Rabiayshna Productions) at the Factory Studio.
Times: Jan 6 at 7 pm, Jan 7 at 5 pm, Jan 8 at 3:15 pm, Jan 9 at 5:30 pm, Jan 12 at 8:30 pm, Jan 14 at 9:30 pm, Jan 15 at 3:15 pm, Jan 16 at 7 pm Rating: NNNN
The Apology is filled with self-proclaimed monsters, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at its four attractive characters: poets Byron and Shelley, Shelley’s wife Mary (author of Frankenstein) and her stepsister Claire Clairmont.
Darrah Teitel’s exceptional, sharply written play follows this ménage a quatre as they flee England for Switzerland, indulging in sex and drugs with abandon. But jealousy, emotional stress and impractical idealism keep happiness at bay, despite the magnificent writing they produce.
Played out in modern dress (and timeless undress, for the sensual production offers all sorts of couplings), The Apology is brimming with comic moments and tragic decisions. The first-rate cast, working with director Audrey Dwyer, captures both the laughs and the foursome’s dashed utopian visions.
The actors include Sascha Cole as the insecure Claire Brendan McMurtry-Howlett as the idealistic Shelley, who spirits the others along with his dreams and David Beazely as the difficult, bisexual Byron. Kaitlyn Riordan’s ironic Mary, haunted by her famous mother’s spirit, anchors the production with a nuanced performance.
