The Scarlet Pimpernel
Summary
The Scarlet Pimpernel, an original musical based loosely off of the 1905 play by Baroness Emma Orczy is a presentation put on by The Logos Theatre group, a branch of The Academy of Arts. This play is a spellbinding tale of heroism, featuring the character known as the first superhero in fiction: the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Using a disguise as a dandified English nobleman, Sir Percy Blakeney goes undercover, pulling of daring missions, in order to rescue innocent French nobles from the guillotine of the French Revolution. Blakeney, along with his wife, Marguerite St. Just, her brother Armand St. Just, and his second in command, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, weave their way through a complex plot of love, lies, misunderstandings, betrayals and the threat of betrayals to rescue the heir to the French monarchy. The chief antagonist is Citizen Chauvelin, a man of utmost loyalty to the Revolution and new French Republic.
Assessment
The places where the play shines brightest are in the complex staging, choreography of the set pieces, the costuming, and other “worldbuilding” aspects such as lighting and stage direction. The set pieces are fantastic and dynamic, utilizing the same basic structure, but manipulating its appearance with specifically crafted props and furniture to give the impression of different locations to a convincing degree.
The costuming as well, was absolutely amazing! Period-accurate without being too cumbersome or obnoxious for the actors as they twirled and danced across the stage. The subtle differences in clothing between the French and English characters and the upper and lower classes add to the depth and richness of the storytelling.
The acting was solid, and the actors did well projecting the emotions from the stage and using body language to convey parts of the story. Their voices were absolutely beautiful, all skilled singers that hit the notes perfectly, or recovered with an expert ease.
The two places the play lacks are in the pacing and the music. For the former, the first act of the play passes by in an almost frantic blur, not giving much time over to setting up the backdrop of the French Revolution. Characters are introduced, given a song, and die in the span of five minutes with other plots being established in those same five minutes. The second act slows to a much more manageable pace, where the story takes its time and presents the problems each character faces. The third act picks up the pace again, although not quite to the level of the first act, but it does feel more rushed as it wraps the story up.
The music is the musical’s greatest weakness. The lyrics are interesting, poetic, and well-written, but the songs themselves come across less as actual songs and more of monologues set to music. This is a perfectly legitimate way to present songs in a musical, but The Scarlet Pimpernel does it a bit too much. Too many song-monologues back-to-back.
This said, the story and play was still an incredible thing to watch and enjoy! Seeing the roots of the superhero was delightful and Sir Percy Blakeney was perfectly cast. The story also included a lot of relationship dynamics that aren’t often found in modern media anymore; namely marriages and sibling relationships.
Light-o-Meter
Writing: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Stage Direction: 7 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Score/Music: 3 out of 7 Little Lights
Cleanliness: Clean for most audiences.
Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
Regrettably, I was only able to see the 2022 run of the performance via DVD (boo, not being in the same state as Logos Theatre!), but it was still eminently enjoyable.
I do believe that some of the immersion into the story is lost watching through a DVD, which forces me to review it more as a movie than as a play, so my review will not be as complete as it should be, but I think I was able to pick up enough of the gist to type out something.
First of all, as someone who was at one time — and still slightly is — a huge superhero fan, I loved this rendition of The Scarlet Pimpernel from an entirely geeky perspective. Second of all, I found the relationship dynamics on display to be refreshing.
At its core, the play is about a husband and a wife on one hand and a brother and a sister on another. And, while there was some unnecessary drama thrown in to keep the story moving, the goal of the play was not to let the characters sit and wallow in the rough patches of these relationships. The plot always asked the question “how are these relationships going to be mended?”, which is incredibly rare in modern America media, which likes to hold onto grudges and keep families divided until the very last possible moment, if not forever.
Third and most importantly, I cannot, in the space of this review, say enough about the stage direction and sets. It was a big group of actors and stagehands, all coordinating in a wonderfully efficient way to establish new locations and convey movement across distance on such a small stage. The props and wheeled elements of each locale were lovingly crafted and efficient — without being uninteresting — in conveying a unique sense of space for each room, dungeon, garden, and guillotine.
Wrap-up
If you are looking for a cultural event that is family-friendly and focuses on excellent tales of heroism and families overcoming adversity, The Scarlet Pimpernel is the play to see! The origin of the superhero, the dashing and daring adventures of saving the innocent from injustice, and the importance of communication and reconciliation in family dynamics, all rolled into one incredible, God-honoring performance.
Where to Enjoy
Unfortunately, this play is no longer being presented in a live performance, but you can find it on DVD at the website below!
Scarlet Pimpernel DVD: Scarlet Pimpernel 2 Disk DVD Set + Bonus Features - The Academy of Arts Ministries
Logos Theatre Website: The Logos Theatre | Family-friendly productions in Taylors, SC
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