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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW SOU's Academia Latina program helps incoming high schoolers learning to lead ... Ashland Calendar, Saturday, Aug. 8 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Affirmative actions ... SOU's Academia Latina program helps incoming high schoolers learning to lead ... Ashland Calendar, Saturday, Aug. 8 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Affirmative actions ... THEATER REVIEW Off-beat elements of 'Count' don't add up Comment By Roberta Kent For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Roberta Kent For the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 6:58 PM By Roberta Kent For the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 6:58 PM If you go -->   Performances of "Count of Monte Cristo" start at 8 p.m. one to three times per week on varying nights through Oct. 11 in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre. Tickets are $30-105. 800... » Read more X If you go   Performances of "Count of Monte Cristo" start at 8 p.m. one to three times per week on varying nights through Oct. 11 in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre. Tickets are $30-105. 800-219-8161, www.osfashland.org .   » Social News If you like classic melodrama, the production of “The Count of Monte Cristo” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival may confuse you. The dramatic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas classic 19th century adventure novel opened Sunday night in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre. This “Monte Cristo” is true to its time and place. It has the plot intricacy, rapid storytelling with frequent asides to the audience and the broad acting characteristic of melodrama, the dominant theatrical form of its period. The pure form is still immensely popular with contemporary audiences because it is just plain fun. This production of “The Count of Monte Cristo” works splendidly when it is stylistically consistent. But when director Marcela Lorca adds dramatic realism and naturalistic acting onto the story, the two dramatic forms uncomfortably clash and the production goes awry. In spite of its importance in the history of American theater, “The Count of Monte Cristo” would have been an unlikely candidate for a production by OSF. When the Festival decided to produce Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” this season, however, “Monte Cristo” became an obvious companion piece to that play. “Monte Cristo” is central to “Journey’s” story. James O’Neill, O’Neill’s father, starred in his own adaptation of Charles Fechter’s dramatization of “Monte Cristo” more than 6,000 times. It is, in fact, the commercial play that James Tyrone blames for the decline of his artistic career in “Journey.” Fechter and O’Neill took many liberties adapting Dumas’ novel, eliminating minor characters, compressing the time frame and the action and giving the story a satisfying ending. It begins in 1815. Napoleon is exiled at Elba, the French monarchy has been restored and tensions run high between royalists and Bonapartists. Edmond Dantès, a junior ship’s officer, is falsely accused of treason. He is betrayed through the connivance of a jealous colleague, a romantic rival and an ambitious prosecutor and condemned to an island prison. A priest in the next cell tells Dantès the location of a buried treasure and provides a means of escape. When Dantès returns to Paris 18 years later as the immensely wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, he is in a position to exact revenge. He methodically stalks his prey, exploits their weaknesses and sets intricate traps for them — even though, in the end, Dantès’ cleverness almost traps himself. Lorca has a strong cast with Al Espinosa as Dantès, Vilma Silva as Mercedes, Michael Sharon as Fernand, Raffi Barsoumian as Danglars, Peter Frechette as Villefort, and Richard Howard as Morel. Sharon and Barsoumian, in particular, do everything but twirl an imaginary moustache. Lorca’s directing goes awry, however, with the over-the-top performances of Richard Elmore as the drunken Caderousse and Kate Mulligan as his scheming wife. They are so out of synch with the other actors that they could almost be part of another play. Similarly, making Villefort’s Bonapartist sibling a woman and casting Robin Goodrin Nordli is a strange choice. Nordli, a notably fine actor, is laughable when she is disguised as a man who takes on various bizarre identities throughout the play. As her disguised characters are central to various plot points, her unconvincing masculine portrayals become a distraction. The intriguing scenic design by Sibyl Wickersheimer, period costumes by Ana Kuzmanic and lighting design by Karin Olson are a plus, as is the music and sound design by Sarah Pickett. Christopher DuVal provides some convincingly swashbuckling sword work as the fight director. Done in its classic style, “The Count of Monte Cristo” could have been a romp, a glimpse into what audiences craved 150 years ago. After all, melodrama still thrives in summer theaters across America. But melodrama is not dramatic realism and Fechter and O’Neill were not Strindberg. There are times when directors should let well enough alone. Roberta Kent is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Reach her at [email protected]             By Roberta Kent For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Roberta Kent For the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 6:58 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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