The greatest irony of Steven Sondheim's musical Passion, is that passion is the one emotion the show completely fails to evoke.
Inspired direction and exquisite design are fleeting distractions, but ultimately not enough to rescue the Wilma Theatre's production from the clutches of a weak script and desperately slow plot.
The play, set in 19th century Italy, opens with a rather risqu‚, although very tastefully done, sex scene between lovers, Army Captain Giorgio Bachetti (Christopher Innvar) and the otherwise married Clara (Kate Baldwin). The evolution of their all-consuming, seemingly perfect romance begins when Giorgio is sent away to a distant camp and quickly captures the heart of Fosca (Maree Johnson), the terminally ill cousin of the Colonel Ricci (Mark Jacoby), who proves to be the lovers' first obstacle (strangely Clara's husband does not prove himself to be a challenge to their love until much later in the play).
The potential for the musical to depict the power and passion of true love is great, but falls short in a plot that wanders through sappy lyrics and repetitive scenes at a snail's pace. That Giorgio and Clara are hopelessly in love, and that Fosca is pathetically obsessed with Giorgio are established in the first few scenes, but the story does not twist away from this premise until only a few minutes from the end, by which point the audience is so inundated with boredom they could care less.
It is unfortunate that the music fails to salvage the production, as Passion won a well-deserved Tony award when it opened on Broadway in 1994 for Sondheim's hauntingly melancholy and echoingly beautiful score. Outside of the context of the play, the music itself has a deep, rich quality to it, which was only enhanced by the Wilma Theatre's performers. However, while the score is powerful, the trite, repetitive lyrics prevent it from being catchy, which detracts dramatically from it's entertainment value, and prevents it from adding any positive elements to the show.
It is important to interject somewhere in this criticism that the Wilma Theatre's artistic directors, Blanka and Jiri Zizka, were truly inspired in their technical creation of the production. The set is built out of minimal furniture pieces and slide projections that fall onto silk screens which strategically fall from the theatre's ceiling. A harsh army dining hall is rapidly changed into an graceful Italian garden simply through creative light design, barely interrupting the flow of the production by using actors to carry on and off set pieces without breaking their roles. Of particular note is the harsh, unforgiving thunderstorm that grey lighting and clever acting so realistically create that for a moment the theatre suddenly feels cold and damp.
The acting too, deserves some commendation. Johnson, Innvar, and Baldwin are successfully able to give life and voice to what are otherwise truly two dimensional characters. With very little to work with, they create people out of what are caricatures, so grossly exaggerated that they are scarcely believable. It is a waste of talent, however, because the characters have so little motivation for their ridiculous words and actions, that ultimately even polished acting cannot force sympathy for such insipid protagonists.
The Wilma Theatre has produced a imaginative and artistic production of the musical Passion. Sadly, even all this creativity is not enough to make Sondheim's play interesting and enjoyable to watch.
Ardent Sondheim fans and theatre lovers who might be able to appreciate Passion simply for the elegance of the direction and technical aspects might truly enjoy this show, but others should consider attending only if in the mood for a two hour nap.
