“Captain Drew on Leave”
Where: Quotidian Theatre, The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; 2 p.m. Aug. 8; through Aug. 9
Info: $20 (discounts available); 301-816-1023; quotidiantheatre.org
“Captain Drew on Leave” is a love story, pure and not-so-simple, by British playwright Hubert Henry Davies. Fortunately, Quotidian Theatre, dedicated to producing realistic and impressionistic works, is giving this little-known play a sensitive, nuanced production.
“Captain Drew” is set in 1911, some 20 miles from London. It begins with a middle-aged sailor, Hal Drew (Steve LaRocque), on shore leave, looking for some fun. His nephew, Ernest White, takes Drew into the well-appointed home of George Moxon, telling him about the remote industrialist, his straight-laced wife Martha (Stephanie Mumford) and their pretty houseguest, Isolda Mills.
Drew comes on like a rake and decides to flirt with the immature, self-absorbed Isolda. But it doesn’t take long for him to recognize in Martha a certain “patience” and “unselfishness” he hasn’t found in a woman before. They are easily drawn together.
Director Jack Sbarbori emphasizes the subtlety in Davies’ script, allowing Drew and Martha to fall in love in a gradual, elegant manner, through what they don’t say to one another rather than through obvious acts and speeches. Steve LaRocque has one of the two most difficult parts: he must quickly transform Drew from a superficial, arrogant man-about-town into a caring, thoughtful human being. He pulls off the transformation easily.
The other alteration is Stephanie Mumford’s, who turns the drab Martha into a woman who-though always faithful to her husband — enjoys having a relationship with someone who appreciates her. She, too, makes the change effortlessly.
Dani Nolan is excellent as the flirtatious Isolda, Daniel Corey provides a humorous light touch as Drew’s nephew, Robert Herbertson is appropriately stolid as the unthinking Moxon and David Dubov is the definition of venality as he tries to destroy Drew, whom he has always envied.
Stephanie Mumford’s costumes are a delight, illustrating the refined world which Davies’ characters inhabited.
The set, designed by Sbarbori, is an Edwardian paradise, complete with potted palms, gilt-edged paintings and wall-to-wall bric-a-brac. Fresh flowers mark the passage of time. It’s the perfect setting for love to blossom and forever change the lovers’ hearts.
