Strong cast lifts ‘Lettice’ Final act slows pace of Ten Bucks play

Lettice Douffet, a tour guide at Fustian House in Wiltshire, England, likes to tell stories. Big stories. Tall stories. She can take a small detail – about a historical house whose owner tripped on a step – and turn it into a romantic saga about a woman in a pearl-studded gown tumbling down a staircase and falling into the arms of a heroic man. The only problem is, Lettice’s tales are highly inaccurate. Born into a theatrical family, Lettice embraces a doctrine of “enlarge, enliven, enlighten,” and justifies her fantastical fibs when the plotline of history runs short on drama.

Charlotte Schoen, personnel administrator at the Preservation Trust that oversees tours through historic houses, is not pleased with Lettice’s imaginative embellishments. Charlotte is outraged, in fact, and fires Lettice. The relationship that ensues between the two women is the quirky story in Peter Shaffer’s humorous and occasionally emotional tale “Lettice and Lovage,” presented by Ten Bucks Theater Company through Dec. 9 at Brewer Middle School.

Shaffer is best known for the stage plays “Amadeus” and “Equus.” “Lettice and Lovage,” which echoes Shaffer’s recurring theme of the battle between mediocrity and passion, has been called a female version of the earlier works. In this play, Lettice, a role originated by Maggie Smith, is the wildly bohemian history buff who uses the herb lovage to make a medieval “quaff” that fires the tampered imagination of Charlotte, her steely boss.

Turns out, the women share some fundamental outlooks. By their high-minded standards, the world has gone culturally gray since World War II, and through their friendship and mutual love of history, they forge a united front to combat anything “mere.” To do this, they privately begin elaborate re-enactments of beloved moments in history to bring color to their own muted lives. In the end, the role playing – a kind of “Dungeons and Dragons” for smart women – offers discovery and hope.

The play falls squarely into the genre of anglophile pleaser with copious quotes from Shakespeare and allusions to British history and literature. When it played on Broadway in 1990, critics saw it primarily as a vehicle for Maggie Smith, who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Lettice. Indeed, when she left the show, it never quite regained its tour de force status.

Clearly, the play requires two impeccably talented leads, and Ten Bucks director Christopher Bates, who understands the value of strong casting (not to mention brisk pacing), has hit pay dirt with Sharon Zolper and Julie Arnold Lisnet. Zolper plays the quick-witted, animated Lettice with captivating grace and devilish humor. Lisnet creates a Charlotte with enough guts to believably undergo a virtuoso transformation.

Typically, assessments of this play focus on Lettice’s character as the propelling force, but Zolper and Lisnet work so supportively and seamlessly together that it’s difficult to think of them as anything other than a skillful unit.

Kathleen Lake makes a brief appearance but hefty contribution as Charlotte’s mousy secretary, and Ben Zolper stands out as one of a handful of tourists in the opening scene. His argumentative performance is intriguing enough to make you wish he had returned in the final act to play a lawyer defending Lettice when she puts an ax (unfatally!) through Charlotte’s head. Allen Adams plays the role with mugging boyishness that interrupts the mature performances around him.

But that final act is a conundrum anyway with its pedantic oratories and preposterous twist of plot. Lisnet and Zolper uphold their end of the deal, but the end is a disappointment that not even actors of their caliber can save. This production is long, but you won’t notice until the last half-hour. In previous Ten Bucks productions, the seating in floor-level rows of chairs has been a drawback. The company now has tiered seats that allow full view of the action.

A final note: “Lettice and Lovage” is one of those plays that will never be the same because of the terrorism in America. The script includes an unrelated reference to bomb attacks – these by radicals trying to destroy ugly architecture rather than kill people. Eerie though this moment is, the cast handles the scene deftly and it’s a small side lesson in how the world of art has shifted once again.

Ten Bucks Theater Company will present “Lettice and Lovage” 8 p.m. Dec. 7 and 8, and 2 p.m. Dec. 9 at Brewer Middle School, Somerset Street in Brewer. For tickets, call 942-7589.