crystal basket chandelier 'Lady Windermere's Fan' review: Sharp satire

Emily Kitchens plays a clueless wife.Emily Kitchens plays a clueless wife.Fan of Mrs. Windermere: comedy.By Oscar Wilde.Directed by Christopher Liam Moore.Through Sept.8.Shakespeare Theatre, California, 100Two hours, 15 minutes.$20-$72.(510) 548-9666.www.calshakes.org.Moral integrity is rarely as appealing as Emily's kitchen smiles and lashes, as the headline characters in Mrs. Oscar wildermere's fans rush towards destruction.This is a good thing.We have to be able to go beyond her hard-line qingism and empathize with the girl in her self.The comedy staged at the Shakespeare Theater in California on Saturday was painful.This is a smart, fun game that is very difficult to a large extent.Wilder's first success in drama is not certain.Later, it was passed on as an "ideal husband" or "serious importance.Although it contains some of Wilder's best worksKnown warning sentence-For example, "I can resist anything but temptation"It's not always witty. it's a little too self.Consciously and seriously.This is a social satire with 1 feet of the plot drama.Director Christopher Liam Moore, a staunch supporter of the Shakespeare Festival in Oregon, made his debut at Cal Shakes, his cast was strong and invested in the strengths and excesses of the script, most of which turned out to be rewardingThis satirical drama about sexual hypocrisy laughs the most.The plot of the wife who might sacrifice the marriage-And reputationBecause of her doubts about her husband's "other woman"hanging zeal.The theme of women's life restriction is reflected in Meg Neville's rolling, tense --Danny Scheie, a striking Duchess, stepped up the gown as she dragged around.Peach's vision of a happy marriage-and-Ironing, kitchen, ironWhen reclined by a young Lord (a serious boy, but without a convincing passionate Nick Gabriel), the ethics and trembling discomfort of the clothes were exposed.Her confidence was sharply disintegrated in a subsequent confrontation with the important Aldo Billings, a lover at her 21 th birthday party, possibly an derailed husband and othersDespite Moore's creative use of dual projection and foreground, the ball looks a bit sparse on the vast stageBackground operation.James Carpenter, L.Peter Callender, Dan Clegg, Scheie and Rami Margron continue to inject the necessary comedy density into it to portray the encounter of Mrs. Windermere with another woman --Smooth, fast Stacey Rosswitted Mrs.Erlynne, symbolizing the decoration of black and white, twisted every man in the room around her little finger.Non-Spoiler alert: Wilder cleverly subverts his plot-drama modelErlynne is -Not high tide drama.End discoveryYou can figure it out before the ball starts, but we'll let you do it yourself.It can be said that the showdown between the next kitchen despair, stubborn and ignorant wife and Ross's passionate ellinn --When she tries to find the right word, fight her impulse crazily --Is the core of the play.In the end, Wilder could not help but speak out the moral preaching of the show, but it was a small price.Even a rogue wind that blows the curtains and crystalsOn Saturday, the basket chandelier of Anne Smart's elegant suit could not disrupt the polished surface of the show.Robert Hewitt is a theater critic at the San Francisco Chronicle.E-Postage: rhurwitt @ sfchronicle.