Word: grusin
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Happily, the occasionally indelicate symbolism cannot ruin Jean-Claude van Itallie's sensitive, arresting new translation. He has dispensed with the halting speech patterns common to translations of Russian works, and has given the characters modern idiosyncrasies and sympathies. Masha's idiotic husband, Kulygin (Richard Grusin), says bumblingly to anyone who says a kind word about his wife. "Yes, of course, you're absolutely right. I love her very much, Masha. She's very nice." Masha calls her hated sister-in-law a "petit bourgeois bitch...
...wife and children, of his solid bourgeois existence. Sneeringly, but also wistfully. Lee refers to "houses like they have in magazines. You know, with blondes moving in and out of rooms. "Lee's ambivalence toward security and society crystallizes when Austin invites a movie producer. Saul Kimmer (Richard Grusin), to the house to talk business. Scoffing openly at Kimmer's lifestyle. Lee the dirty, ill-spoken, scowling failure babbles with gleeful sarcasm about his imaginary residence in Palm Springs, his love of gold, his familiarity with Hollywood's Bob Hope Drive. But when Kimmer indicates interest in Lee's idea...
...smaller roles, Richard Grusin and Shirley Wilber also deliver telling, pungent performances. Seen most recently as Zoditch in the A.R.T. production of Journey of the Fifth Horse. Grusin demonstrates here his ability to play a balding, affected, overweight Hollywood producer as well as a sour old reader in a 19th-century Russian publishing house. As the mother, Wilbur is appropriately fussy and matronly: Her high nasal whine sounds very good...
...male stars act impeccably. Grusin's twitching, hunched, sour-eyed Zoditch recalls a Scrooge who has out-eaten his suit size and suffers itching and cramping as a result. Benedict constructs a mournful, perpetually apologetic Chulkaturin who simultaneously invites scorn and nurturing, contempt and sympathy. In a lesser part, Jeremy Geidt plays a convincingly gruff, patriarchal Ozhogin, father to the object of Chulkaturin's clumsy and unrequited youthful affections...
...sisters. The crispness of their timing pays tribute to Serban's directorial presence. The succession of escapades which entangle the various Sganarelles come alive precisely on cue. Standing out in particular are the straight-ahead dead-pan and clever mime of Thomas Derrah and the pestering complaints of Richard Grusin, both of whom have a turn in the title role...