In 1967, The Graduate earned Mike Nichols an Academy Award for Best Director of the year. The film was nominated in six other categories. It was the highest grossing film of all time in the 1960s and has since become a beloved classic film still capable of speaking to the masses.
Benjamin Braddock has just received his college degree. The whole world is an opportunity for him, but he’s feeling uncertain about his future. The wife of his father’s business partner, Mrs. Robinson seduces him. Ben eventually meets and falls in love with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine. Mrs. Robinson is furious and does everything in her power to keep Ben away from her daughter.
In 2000, Terry Johnson adapted Calder Willingham and Buck Henry’ screen play into a stage script. For the 2014-15 Heights Players’ season, Cameron McIntosh took on the enormous task of bringing the show to Brooklyn community theater as his first mainstage directorial debut.
A daunting task
In a director’s note, McIntosh writes, “To capture the visual and emotional dynamics of Mike Nichols’ iconic and monumental masterpiece seems a daunting task…There are countless ways to approach this; it’s a matter of picking one and fully committing to it.”
The character driven show was presented in a thrust – or three sided space. The characters must fight viciously for what their driving force is. Furthermore, each character has to figure out what he or she wants in front of an audience whom are most likely well acquainted with the famous film.
In some ways, McIntosh was successful in demonstrating the power and commonality of the story. The juxtaposition of the grounded Mrs. Robinson is versus Ben’s unsettled anxiety is unmistakable. The high energy of all the characters pushes the plot quickly along.
However, much of the show is rushed, not allowing the actor’s emotions to emerge. The characters are flat and two-dimensional in a show that requires high stakes and emotional attachment. The fast paced timing of opening scene did not allow the audience to settle into the world of the theater, and the banter continued throughout the remainder of the show.
Lines were too rushed to be connected with other actors. The swiftness of the script gave viewers heart palpitations; they were offered no time to breathe. Actors seldom even paused for punctuation within the lines. The audience saw nothing organic happen onstage because of this hastiness.
In addition, the hurried dialogue was often hard to follow, even for those familiar with the film.
Through other characters’ dialogue, we learn that Ben is extremely intelligent, active and an over-achiever. Despite the character’s lack of direction, Sam Kinsman portrays no sign that he has any other quality other than pacing anxiety; his feet rarely stop moving and his lines are delivered without intent or emotion. His interactions between Elaine and Mrs. Robinson have no distinction between his differing relationships with them. His mannerisms and behavior become stagnant and repetitive. Actors cannot replace emotion with movement.
Mrs. Robinson is a complex character with many layers. Ben must be drawn to her for some quality that he identifies as attractive. She uses her charm and warm manipulation as allure. Mindy Cassle plays the lead role as bossy and mean. Ben pursues her simply because the script tells him to do so because she gives him no other reason.
Cassle lacked layers that make her desirable: smoothness, seductiveness, charm. Her manipulation and passive aggressiveness not masked by allure and seduction, leaving the audience wondering why Ben ever called her in the first place.
When the tables have turned and Ben is pursuing Elaine, Cassle is not vicious enough; her nasty edge is too soft. Her stakes are not high enough, and she does not deliver the cruel jilted lover the script demands.
Kristen Seavey (Elaine) seemed to be waiting for her next cue. She seemed unaware of what was happening on stage around her. The rushed delivery of lines did not allow emotions to unfold for her. Her overly quick tempo produced a sharp edge that eroded any attempt at emotion she might have stumbled upon.
Seavey’s part requires that she represent the sweet innocence her mother is lacking. Elaine’s appearance and wardrobe are naïve. However, she needed to employ more naivety in her mannerisms, delivery and responses.
Mr. Robinson, played by R.L. Swartz, was the only character in this production worthy of compassion. He was well animated and displayed a full range of emotions towards Ben from “almost my son” to “despicable trash.” Although in theme with the rest of the production with quickly delivered lines, he was capable of portraying emotion and letting the story unfold before him. As a result, his reactions from the audience received the biggest laughs and the most sympathy. This actor was grounded and full of life in every scene.
Simple set leads to chaos
The set was a simple model that could be manipulated into a variety of spaces. The main piece was a black platform that transformed into a bed, a front porch, a wedding altar and a bus.
The creativity of design was negated by the execution of scene changes. Scene changes became disruptive and chaotic; too much attention was drawn to them. If the audience is going to be watching, set changes either need to entertain or be a part of the show, not “Hold on while we rearrange a couple of things!” The changes need to be better organized and executed.
During the love affair between Ben and Mrs. Robinson, McIntosh created a span of time by having ensemble members pull the bed across the stage. The effective use of lighting gave the illusion of varying times of days and different scenes.
McIntosh’s one faux pas during this scene is that the bed lacked sheets. Being able to see both actors partially clothed and trying to suspend reality as they simulated lovemaking proved difficult.
This story’s final two scenes in the wedding chapel and the escape to the bus are the climactic points and where the story ends. Both were rushed so badly that the climatic events that end the show barely began to elapse before they ended.
The audience is just barely able to interpret Elaine’s wedding when Ben begins banging on the upstairs window. Elaine’s wedding march was a sprint down the aisle. Efforts to prevent Ben from taking Elaine were unconvincing. Elaine’s groom gave no reaction from that his bride was leaving him at the altar.
Just as the wedding scene ended, the chaos of the scene change disrupted the show. As Elaine and Ben escaped the chapel onto the bus, they seemed the happy couple riding away to paradise, as opposed to the uncertainty of “what’s next” that the film leaves us with. The play ended abruptly, as the script intends, but the full weight of the circumstance never materialized.
Those with a certain nostalgia for the movie may be pleased with the script and execution. However, even they would be disappointed in the actors’ portrayal of Willingham and Henry’s cult film.
Following the production, murmurings of Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft were plentiful. Community theater should not have to live up to those expectations. However, as director, McIntosh needs to allow his actors to experience their full range of emotions – even during productions.
The Heights Players perform The Graduate based on the 1960s classic movie Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through January 25. Tickets $20. 26 Willow Place
