Steve Corbett's elegant set, heavy in dark woods, makes for the perfect living room in an upper- class Connecticut home. Guest In The House, by Hagar Wilde and Dale Eunson, at just over two hours running time, is not quite as distinguished. The language sounds stilted by contemporary standards and the pace is often ponderous. In the predictable story, even minor complexities are easily seen.
Commercial artist Douglas Proctor (Marc B. Spencer), with his wife Ann (Melissa M. Johnson) and seven-year-old daughter, lead a very comfortable suburban life away from the madness of Manhattan. Enter the lovely Evelyn Heath, Ann's relative, suffering from a heart problem and various psychoses. Her influence on all those around her is devastating. She is evil, terribly evil.
Dana Attari, as Evelyn Heath, has full command of her role. Her character is saccharine sweet as she slowly ensnares the family into her web. Attari reveals the true evilness of her character convincingly in a nicely controlled change. She reveals one of her psychoses, an important plot point, in a most dramatic manner.
Jo-Darlene Reardon, as voice-of-reason Aunt Martha Proctor, gives an everybody's-eccentric-yet-loveable-aunt performance. (Hmm.. Is that really Bea Arthur on stage in disguise?) Seven-year-old Allison Edmonds, as Lee Proctor, delights. She handles the range of emotions, from elation to sadness, professionally. We'll be seeing a lot more of this young lady.
We can't see enough of Jeannie Soverns, as nude model Miriam Blake (pun intended). Soverns plays a feisty, no-nonsense model who takes her job seriously. Her portrayal is strong, with some of the funniest lines in the play (there are very few). Finally, late in the evening, enters Janice Jean, as yellow journalist Pamela Rhodes. Jean, dressed rather prim and proper, has her role down to perfection -- a reporter who gets her story at any cost. Her cameraman, Cam Tracy, played by David Hayes, has only a couple of lines of dialogue, but he offers an amusing double-take on Miriam Blake.
The large cast includes many very small roles, typical of earlier plays. The sarcastic maid, Hilda, is played by Thelma Ellison. Michael Sotko plays the uptight Reverend Doctor Shaw. Paul B. Schaeffer is John. Mr. and Mrs. Dow, he Ann Proctor's former employer and she a most charming wife, are played by Harvey Berkowitz and Judy Durning.
The set is cleanly lighted by Bob Eisele. He even includes a couple of nice special effects. Sound designer Michael Shapiro provides both music and special effects. (One quibble: his thunder precedes Eisele's lightning, which I believe is impossible. Hmmm!)
There's a lot of obvious acting on the Lamplighter stage and very little being (the character), with the exceptions noted above. Without truly convincing performances, Guest In The House loses what charm it may have had 50 years ago. A handful of charming actors aside, it's a sleep-inducing dowager of a play.
