Theater review: Trinity gets to the heart of Dickens A Tale of Two Cities – The Providence Journal

Brian McEleney, longtime Trinity Rep actor, has pulled off the next to impossible, cutting through Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, and finding the pulsing heart of this epic masterwork.

McEleneys two-plus-hour adaptation, on the Trinity stage through March 22, manages to make the complex simple. He has told this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the French Revolution with striking images and haunting sounds, rather than reams of dialogue.

Three-time Tony winner Eugene Lee, once Trinitys house designer, is back with more surprises. Rather than create a set that underscores the clash between heartless privilege and the suffering of the poor in 18th-century France, Lee sets the show in a faithful reproduction of the Providence Athenaeum, with elegant sconces and plaster busts perched along the bookcases.

The show, which runs a little more than two hours, opens with a cast made up of Trinity veterans and newcomers strolling from the wings, opening volumes and reciting those iconic opening lines: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

As is often the case with Trinity productions, an oak library table doubles as a coach, and in the final moments, a scaffold. Using a paper cutter as a metaphor for the fearsome guillotine described by Dickens didnt quite work, though.

We get a taste of what Lee has in store, as light flashes through the bookcases as Matt Clevys Marquis races recklessly through the streets of Paris.

Then when the Revolution blossoms amid a tsunami of terror, Lees elegant drawing room comes apart at the seams. Theres no set change, but we enter a whole new world.

Along the way, sound sculptor Christopher Sadlers adds a bit of musical magic here and there, with haunting ballads backed up by guitar and harmonium.

McEleney keeps the dialogue to a minimum, but still manages with the help of director Tyler Dobrowsky to make an often-convoluted tale seem clear.

McEleney spent two years on this adaptation, but was not content to enjoy his efforts from the front row. He stars as the befuddled Dr. Manette, who spent 18 years in prison, before being reunited with daughter Lucie, played by Rebecca Gibel.

Other Trinity stalwarts include Rachael Warren as a terrifying Madame Defarge, and Stephen Berenson as her husband, the affable wine merchant who ends up sending the enemies of the Republic to their deaths with no mercy.

Taavon Gamble, who appeared in last years wonderful production of A Christmas Carol, is terrific opposite Gibel as Charles Darnay, who gives up his rank to side with the common folk.

It is true, Dickens novel has its share of melodrama, seen at the end with the sacrifice made by Sydney Carton. But Daniel Duque-Estradas Carton made the final moments all the more powerful by keeping the tears to a minimum.

A Tale of Two Cities runs through March 22 at Trinity Rep. Tickets starts at $27. Call (401) 351-4242, or visit trinityrep.com.

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Theater review: Trinity gets to the heart of Dickens A Tale of Two Cities - The Providence Journal

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero