Review: 'The Mandrake' a lively, all-purpose offender

'Well . . . I was expecting Romeo and Juliet," said one theatergoer in a slightly embarrassed murmur at a recent Quintessence Theatre Group intermission. In contrast to Shakespeare's supremely idealistic love story, The Mandrake by Niccolo Machiavelli (yes, that Machiavelli) enveloped the stage with cynicism and lust, as translated by Wallace Shawn during the sex-steeped, pre-AIDS 1970s.

The mix-up was understandable: Quintessence is doing the two plays in repertory in a daring juxtaposition that ultimately works for the kind of intelligent theatergoer who's interested in sociological contrasts. But it must be accepted (if at all) with its warts and limitations.

Written around 1518 (roughly 75 years before R&J), The Mandrake has something offensive for everybody. It's the story of a man obsessed with the beautiful wife of a wealthy, dim-witted husband, and joins with mercenary rogues to bed her at any cost. Set in Florence, it depicts church-sanctioned abortion, baroque rationalizations about why men should get everything they want, and jaw-dropping vistas in misogyny.

The Quintessence cast delivers all this shamelessly (how else?), though homosexual implications are handled gingerly. The play entertainingly gets away with a lot if only because it is so old; the question is how to play it. Director Alexander Burns goes for cartoonish stylization that in early scenes subliminally telegraphs, "We aren't serious about this."

But isn't any good comedy rooted in genuine human need? This highly inflected line-delivery inhabits a narrow range of expression and quickly becomes boringly repetitive, but gradually, most of the cast evolve into beings resembling real people. That's particularly remarkable with Josh Carpenter's Ligurio, who maintains a commedia dell'arte physical stylization for his scheming character, but manages a full range of motivational subtext.

Sean Close effectively plays accomplice Brother Timothy like Paul Lynde masquerading as a cleric. As the fair maiden's corrupt mother, E. Ashley Izard is a smarmy delight. But Gregory Isaac and Emiley Kiser as the older man and lovely wife only intermittently convey their humanity. Sadly, Alan Brincks in the central role of Callimaco, the seducer, stays so showy that even his suicide speech is meaningless.

Composer David Cope supplies Renaissance-flavored musical interludes and a particularly clever prologue with recitative-like vocal lines against simple instrumental arpeggios. However, this production has two prologues, the second one superfluous, even when delivered by charismatic Jahzeer Terrell. In fact, the play might wear its 500 years more easily if this 40-year-old adaptation were significantly retooled.

Performances: Through Nov. 8 at Quintessence Theatre Group at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., Mount Airy. Tickets: $15-$34. Information: 215-987-4450 or www.quintessencetheatre.org.

dstearns@phillynews.com.