Dear Brutus

 Dear Brutus is getting a first rate production by The Noise Within in Glendale. Dear Brutus is a seldom- produced play and, for many, has fallen off the memory radar. The play is a delightful concoction by J. M. Barrie of PETER PAN fame. Here it is the adults who must learn to fly by entering into a magical wood where transformations happen.

     Barrie whimsically reminds us of the woods of Shakespeare, in AS YOU LIKE IT or A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, woods where adults go to find themselves. In PETER PAN it was necessary to go to Neverland to escape only to find that you had to return home, aware of a lost world where little boys never grow up. Neverland was the home of Indians, crocodiles, shown-on shadows, fairies, and of course, Captain Hook. In DEAR BRUTUS the characters only confront themselves or in one case, the child that never was but always hoped for.

     One of the more entertaining aspects of DEAR BRUTUS is that the characters return to reality and, at first ,only remember the selves the discovered in the woods. Eventually they remember their true identities but are forever changed and made happier and more fulfilled as couples, and as individuals.

     Julia Rodriguez-Elliot has used her talented company well.  Outstanding is Deborah Strang as Mrs. Dearth, the lonely, rather desperate wife of Mr. Dearth, impressively played by Geoff Elliot.  Her work is consistently good in all the shows I have seen her in.

     Two other performer deserve special praise and they are William Dennis Hunt as the disgruntled butler Matey, and Mitchell Edmonds, looking for the world like Daddy Warbucks, as Mr. Coade who transforms from a rather stuffy old coot to become a flute- playing Pan himself. A Noise Within is lucky to have these seasoned pros in their midst.

     The direction by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot is first rate.  She is aided by Michael C. Smith who designed the  gorgeous sets, and Ken Booth who created the evocative lighting. They have created a magical mysterious world and a moving portrait of adults who need and are given a second chance. Highly recommended.

A NOISE WITHIN 234 Brand Blvd. Glendale Ca. 91204 through DEC 18 in rotating rep.