Goings On About Town: The Theatre
In Deloss Brown's adaptation of Stendhal's 1830 novel "Le Rouge et Le Noir," an innocent young peasant in rural France (Lucas Wells), educated by the local priest (Jeremy Johnson), is hired by the mayor (Brian Linden) as a live-in tutor. Despite his deep distaste for the upper classes, the peasant begins an affair with the mayor's beautiful wife (Krista Adams Santilli), which is where his education really begins. Brown has a lot of material to get through in two hours, and he does it by having his characters speak directly to the audience now and then, furthering the action in broad comedic strokes. Because the actors are charming, it works for the most part. But too many repeated jokes and too many politics to explain slow the action down. (February 4, 2013)