Sex, drugs and classical chamber music? In the sublime, refined world of string quartets and piano trios, surely the intensity of the art rises above the petty squabbles that rip apart successful rock 'n' roll groups.
What: Southern Repertory Theatre opens its 23rd season with the regional premiere of Michael Hollinger's backstage drama of the life of a renowned string quartet. Mark Routhier directs the cast, which includes Bob Edes Jr., Drew Battles, Vatican Lokey, John Neisler and Shauna Rappold.
Where: Southern Rep, Canal Place, third floor.
When: Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., through Oct. 11.
Tickets: $20-$29. Discounts available for students, seniors, military, teachers and theater professionals. Call 504.522.6545.
Concert: For those interested in hearing Beethoven's complete Opus 131, the Loyola University String Quartet will perform the work Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at Southern Rep. Call the theater box office for information.
And yet, in "Opus, " now receiving its local premiere at Southern Repertory Theatre, it is that very intensity, combined with artistic temperaments, that creates conflicts that can crescendo into tragedy.
Playwright Michael Hollinger's brilliantly absorbing play offers a realistic backstage look at the workings of an acclaimed string quartet showing how the personalities and the process of creating art rarely are gentle.
Hollinger captures the unique precision required for four instruments to create a cohesive and carefully balanced sound -- and the sweat, blood and tears that can go into that seemingly effortless performance.
As the play opens, a young violist, Grace -- played with lyrical appeal by Shauna Rappold -- is auditioning with three members of the famed Lazara Quartet. After the abrupt firing of the previous violist, the chair must be filled before an imminent White House appearance.
As the play progresses through the rehearsals for the big night, we get flashbacks that depict events leading to an earlier meltdown. Throughout, the stressful seeds of discontent continue to be sown. Director Mark Routhier has assembled one of the finest casts in town, one that plays these taut strings with virtuoso flair.
Dorian, Grace's predecessor, is played with a mad yet subtle sense of genius by Vatican Lokey. As the emotionally volatile perfectionist, Lokey's character embodies that fine line between artistic visionary and a self-consuming insanity that can threaten all around him.
The quartet's first violinist, Elliot, is played to bitchy perfection by Bob Edes Jr. Once Dorian's lover, he now is an artistically insecure and spiteful leader of the ensemble.
Drew Battles (who was so memorable in Southern Rep's "The Seafarer") is Alan, the laid-back second violinist. He is the quartet's pragmatic anchor, struggling to keep peace in the ensemble. Alan's potential romantic entanglement with Grace is made real through the chemistry Battles and Rappold share. Elliot sees that romance -- and Grace's "outsider" status in the tightly bound ensemble -- as a threat to the group's sense of fidelity.
The cellist, Carl, is the family man and seemingly most stable member of the group. In his Southern Rep debut, John Neisler proves to be a welcome addition to local stages, bringing the character an emotional depth that is slowly revealed despite keeping his fellow players -- and thus, the audience -- at arm's length.
For its White House performance, the group tackles Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Opus 131. Choosing the monumental and notoriously difficult work seems to reflect the quartet's desire to bring all the building tensions to the fore at long last. One need not be a musicologist to understand the spats that break out -- at times, approaching physical violence -- through the intensive rehearsals.
Routhier keeps the strings tight throughout the 90-minute piece, played (like Opus 131) without a break. As a result, the audience is enveloped in the music and the artistic process right through to the shocking twist at the finale. Though a bit like a clang of cymbals in the middle of an adagio, that ending rings true.
The simple set by James K. Faerron, a bare stage resembling a blond-wood-paneled concert hall, keeps the focus on the players. The actors believably mime their bowing to recorded excerpts of various quartets.
If "Opus" were a musical score, Southern Rep has opened its 23rd season with a work that can only be marked as "brilliante."