Blue Room, The

Oh, how the sexual landscape has changed in the past 100 years, when Arthur Schnitzler penned the original La Ronde. What shocked 19th-century audiences barely causes a murmur in today's updated version, even with nudity thrown in for good measure. Although this production of The Blue Room lacks the star power that attracted Broadway audiences (to see Nicole Kidman in the nude), it is witty, powerful and completely entertaining. Renaissance Theaterworks is an up-and-coming Milwaukee theater company that excels in presenting plays from a woman's point of view. Although some of the female characters in The Blue Room are seemingly manipulated by the men in their lives, they soon find ways to put the men in their place.

This turn of events motivates much of the play's humor. For instance, in one scene between a guilt-ridden politician's wife and her husband, the couple initially appear at either end of a sexual spectrum. She has just cheated on him with a much younger man, while her husband moralizes about his commitment to monogamy. In the following scene, we see the same politician, this time paired with a brainless model in a hotel room. To each his own, playwright David Hare seems to suggest.

The comical couplings that comprise The Blue Room's sexual daisy chain are fun to watch, despite the superficiality of their relationships. It is endlessly fascinating to see the brilliantly talented Carrie Hitchcock and Peter Reeves magically transform themselves into a new character every few minutes. Many of these transformations are carried out in full view of the audience, with dressers and prop assistants scurrying to set the next scene. We see the full range of the actors' talents, as a young au pair becomes a middle-aged married woman, or a stuffy politician becomes a hip, pseudo-sophisticated playwright.

The best of the scenes is between the married woman and her much young lover. He tries so hard to impress her by being "cool" that their climactic moment ends in a dud -- until she takes charge. Both actors have well-toned physiques, which argues strongly for doing scenes in the nude. (Those brief nude scenes are so well integrated into the play they are hardly shocking, even for a town as conservative as Milwaukee.) As suggested in the script's original title, the play eventually comes full circle to a satisfying ending. Seasoned director Anne-Marie Cammarato is to be commended for coaxing the most out of her actors, and for her exceptional staging in the intimate Broadway Studio Theater.

A series of multi-tiered platforms, set off by yards of muslin, works quite effectively in sustaining the sexually charged mood through the production. Credit goes to John Starmer for making the most of a threadbare budget.