Jean Brodie is an unconventional educator. She exhorts the Scottish schoolgirls under her tutelage to show away from safety and stability and run passionately into the arms of goodness, truth and sweetness.
She has much in common with Robin Williams’ life-affirming literature teacher within the film “Dead Poets Society.” But Jean Brodie is unapologetically open about playing favorites. She also often sets the curriculum aside entirely to regale with tales of past romances and her recent vacations. And, for one who claims devotion to her charges, she will be able to seem greater than just a little self-absorbed.
She stands at the middle of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which began life as a 1961 Muriel Spark novel before Jay Presson Allen adapted it for the stage, then the screen, Maggie Smith taking home the Best Actress Oscar in 1970 for her portrayal of the title character. But Dark & Stormy Productions makes a convincing argument that the too-long-neglected play definitely deserves to be experienced.
Presented with absorbing intimacy within the black box of Gremlin Theatre, it’s a captivating character study focused upon a bunch of teachers and students at an Edinburgh private school within the Nineteen Thirties. While stuffed with humor, it’s also a thought-provoking examination of power, abuse and the fragile dance of helping shepherd the transition from childhood to maturity.
Boasting impeccable performances from each actor within the 10-member solid, director Allison Vincent’s unfailingly engaging staging is a meticulously crafted piece of theater, stuffed with warmth, energy and a wealthy coterie of complex characters.
The story is framed because the reminiscences of a Scottish nun who’s turn into a best-selling writer and is being interviewed by an American journalist. Her memories take her to the elite private school she attended and the way her life was shaped by the headstrong romantic, Jean Brodie. We witness the teacher’s conflicts with the varsity’s headmistress, the art teacher who could also be a one-time lover and the music teacher with whom she becomes an emotional dominatrix. Act two takes us closer to highschool graduation, when life decisions loom for the women and Miss Brodie’s sort of mentorship becomes increasingly problematic.
Jean Brodie is a tour de force waiting to occur, and Sara Marsh delivers one, making her vibrantly charismatic, but at all times not less than just a little unsettling. Nevertheless it’s to director Vincent’s credit that Marsh never steals the highlight from the 4 girls she regards as her “creme de la creme,” each evocatively portrayed by a University of Minnesota theater student.
Amongst them, Shayla Courteau is great because the brainy Sandy, who begins the story as an icy and analytical middle schooler before embracing the role of a rebel in eminently believable fashion. And Cece Roth deserves kudos for fully inhabiting the devoted yet confused Mary, essentially the most unguarded character on stage.
Similarly well sculpted are the 2 male teachers with diametrically opposed spirits: Peter Christian Hansen exudes each charm and menace because the art teacher and serial seducer, while Alex Galick is a bundle of deferential anxiety as Jean’s suitor or quarry, depending upon your perspective.
But a word concerning the accents: Despite the actors doing a fabulous job with their characters’ Scottish brogues, there may be times once you wish you might activate the subtitles. Yet it says something concerning the exquisite performances that the emotions come through loud and clear.
Rob Hubbard could be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.
Dark & Stormy Productions’ “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”
When: Through Sept. 17
Where: Gremlin Theatre, 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul
Tickets: $45-$25, available at simpletix.com
Capsule: A neglected theatrical gem receives a cultured production.