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Cornbury: The Queen's Governor - History Served Unevenly
Categories: UncategorizedThe ignominious fate of Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, who served as the English governor of New York & New Jersey from 1702 to 1709 is presented as a metaphor for intolerance and religious persecution of gays in Cornbury: The Queen's Governor, written by late playwright Anthony Holland and William M. Hoffman. At the same time, they see Cornbury's extravagance, penchant for cross-dressing and exuberant spirit as ingredients for a latter-day, bawdy Restoration comedy. Unfortunately, neither the script nor Tim Cusack's staging manage to satisfyingly meld two diametrically opposed views of the Cornbury tale.
The play and the production are certainly graced by a number of gifted actors who give first-rate performances. As Cornbury, David Greenspan delivers a deliciously mercurial performance that's a mix of drag queen camp and well-observed naturalism. His ability to wed such distinct styles into his performance is what gives the piece genuine heft. Theatergoers are not only able to laugh at the man who lavishness has nearly bankrupted the colonies under his control, but also care about him as Pastor Cornelius Van Dam (an under-used Everett Quinton), pastor of St. Marks, and Margareta De Peyster (a flamboyantly malicious Bianca Leigh), a Dutch lady with a taste for power, plot his ouster.
These three performers deftly deliver the play's high comedy (an argument between Cornbury and Margareta borders on a catfight), and on many levels that would be enough, but unfortunately, sermonizing creeps in, as Cornbury's persecution and eventual imprisonment is condemned as being both politically, and more dangerously, philosophically, motivated. Cornbury's support of Jews, and his advisor Spinoza Dacosta (played with a mixture of sage augustness and comic flair by Ken Kliban) in particular, is referenced. Also, his rivals dismiss the respect that Cornbury extends to slaves and Native Americans, in particular, his African attendant (a shrewd performance form Ashley Bryant) and Munsee, a Native American (Eugene the Poogene), whom Spinoza trusts.
The more serious aspects of the script might not seem so obtrusive were it not for other moments in the play when broad zaniness, amateurishly performed, comes to the fore. A scene early on between two lesbian barmaids is a perfect example. One assumes the sexual cavorting of the women (Nomi Tichman and Tara Bast) is meant to be bawdy fun, but in "Cornbury" it lands with a thud. Similarly, the existential spiral that the Pastor's hunky son, Rip (played with deer-in-the-headlights sweetness by Christian Pedersen), experiences after meeting Cornbury is never fully developed; instead, it's played as both a kind of joke about gay men's effect on straight ones, and as a serious dilemma for the young man about what in life is most important, which includes a fiancé (played with coy forcefulness by Jenne Vath).
Just as the play and performances experience a curious sort of disconnect, so too do the visual elements of the production. Scenic designer Mark Beard has provided some handsome, yet appropriately worn, painted drops, and the two buff, six-pack abbed caryatids of a Native American and Caucasian explorer that support the painted proscenium induce smiles well before any performer has taken to the stage. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Wallach's costumes, which aim for a similar sort of comic tackiness, only look haphazardly executed, and while there's much to enjoy in this show, including one choice visual joke in Wallach's costume scheme for Cornbury's kleptomaniac wife Marie (played with marvelous faux-French flair by Julia Campanelli), its tonal fluctuations leave theatergoers reeling.
---- Andy Propst
Cornbury plays at Hudson Guild Theatre (441 West 26th Street). Performances are Monday through Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 and 8 PM, and Sunday at 5 PM. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by calling 212-352-3101 or by visiting www.TheaterMania.com. Further information is available online at www.theatreaskew.com
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