The Arts / Reviews

Catch the buzz from Riverbend’s ‘Bees’

By David Burke | Tuesday, July 22, 2008 | () comments

There’s a two-pronged question surrounding Alexa Vere de Vere, the lead female character in Riverbend Theatre Collective’s “As Bees in Honey Drown”: Do you love to hate her or hate to love her?

That’s not only a question for the audience to decide, but also for Evan Wyler (played by Jake Walker) in the Riverbend production, set in 1990s New York.

Evan, a first-time novelist, has been hired by record producer extraordinaire Alexa to write a movie treatment of her life story. Big names are attached to the project and her life, and Alexa’s dropping those names right and left.

As played by Maggie Wooley, Alexa indulges in the high life, procuring Saks Fifth Avenue suits for her biographer, dining at the best restaurants and staying in the finest hotel suites.

Evan soaks all of it up, and the writer, who is gay, eventually has a romantic relationship with his subject.

But the high life comes to an end, and that’s where the second act of Douglas Carter Beane’s script gets interesting. Piece by piece, the making of Alexa is discovered, and Evan discovers he’s not the only one who’s fallen for — and to — her.

Beane’s script suggests that we all invent ourselves in one way or another. “You are the person you were meant to be,” Alexa purrs at one point.

Wooley, a Prenzie Players veteran, is a catty delight, with a husky, throaty voice and delivery that resemble Samantha from “Sex and the City.” With her dark, bobbed wig and cherry-red lipstick, she nails Evan’s description of “a mixture of every woman I’ve ever loved in a movie.”

As Evan, Walker is also excellent, sliding from wide-eyed naivete to a mixture of confusion and anger over what’s happened to his subject. It’s a difficult role, and it’s hard to picture any other actor in the Quad-Cities tackling it.

Also excelling, in a number of roles, are Matt Moody and Patrick Gimm.

Allison Collins-Elfline shows an affinity for the material in her direction and cleverly uses the structural limitations of the Village Theatre in her favor. In telling the story of how his ex-wife “became” Alexa, for example, Moody’s character slips in and out of flashback scenes played on the theater’s stage and risers below.

“Bees” is complex, but ultimately satisfying. Hopefully it’ll create a buzz this weekend.

The play concludes the first season for Riverbend, which already has three productions — a comedy and two musicals — in the works for next summer.

IF YOU GO

What: “As Bees in Honey Drown” by Riverbend Theatre Collective

When: 8 p.m. today through Saturday, July 26

Where: Village Theatre, 2113 E. 11th St., Village of East Davenport

How much: $10

Information: (309) 757-1387 or RiverbendTheatreCollective.com on the Web