Greetings - Happy June!! Summer is truly here. I'm Theater Critic Faiga Levine, and this is JUST THEATER - No film, no dance, no concerts, no opera - JUST THEATER.

In this June issue I'll discuss “A Time To Kill” at Arena Stage, “Old Times” at Shakespeare Theatre Company, “Follies” At the Kennedy Center, and “Venus In Fur” at The Studio Theatre.

A Time To Kill, now at Arena Stage, was originally a novel by John Grisham, which was then made into a film. I saw the film on television, twice. So, I thought it would be a lost cause to make it into a stage play. I was wrong. A Time To Kill is excellent stage material. And the Arena production has certainly upped the ante on courtroom dramas.

It is the mid-1980's in a Mississippi courtroom. Carl Lee Hailey (Dion Graham) is on trial for killing the two white rednecks who raped and tortured his ten-year-old daughter.

Sebastian Arcelus plays attorney Jake Brigance who takes on the almost hopeless job of defending Carl Lee, and has him plead guilty by reason of insanity. Which makes sense. It certainly would be insane for a black man to kill two white men, especially members of the KKK. But it is Jake Brigance who becomes the target of the Klan, which burns crosses on his lawn (terrifying his wife), and finally burns down his house.

A Time To Kill was author John Grisham's first courtroom novel. He was a young lawyer, just starting out, when he wrote it. Script Adaptor Rupert Holmes has done a fine job of whittling it down for the stage. And Director Ethan McSweeny does some interesting things with the staging - placing the whole set on a turn-table so the audience gets to see various views of the judge and the courtroom. The jury is in the audience. Local newscaster J.C.Hayward playing a television reporter giving updates on the trial, is seen on several television screens on the back walls.

Sebastian Arcelus is excellent as Attorney Jake Brigance, who takes on the hopeless case of Black against White in a l980's Mississippi courtroom. Brennan Brown is the snarky, preening, District Attorney (he's actually rather funny), and Evan Thompson is the strict (won't allow a change of venue), but very human, Judge Omar Noose, who has an eye for a pretty young woman.

A Time To Kill, at the Arena Kreeger – Not a lot of suspense, but still very effective. Adaptor Rupert Holmes and Director Ethan McSweeny have created a piece of theater that may well become as popular as Grisham's novel.

Harold Pinter's Old Times by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Landsburgh, opens on a white set. White lounging beds, white walls, white lamps, everything is white.

Anna, in a rather long, deep blue dress, stands looking out the back window. Kate, wearing pink silk pajamas, sits cross-legged on a bed, and her husband, Deeley in casual brown jacket and shirt, sits on a chair with outstretched legs. Then Anna turns and speaks, and the battle is joined.

This is a play about memory. Their friendship (if it is friendship) goes back a long way…twenty years, in fact, when Kate lived with Anna before she married Deeley. That was when all three used to frequent the same pub…And, did Deeley really look up Anna's dress when she was wearing underwear borrowed from Kate?

This also is a play about ownership and love. Both Anna and Deeley love Kate. Both want to own her. Deeley is married to her, so it would seem he has dibs. But Anna knew her first…dried her off with a big towel when she came out of her bath. And Kate simply smiles. “There are some things,” Anna says, “one remembers even though they may never have happened….There are things I remember which may never have happened, but as I recall them, so they take place.”

Holly Twyford's Anna is strong, self-assured, and leaves no doubt as to what she remembers of Kate's and her relationship. She never sneers…is always coolly matter-of-fact, and drives Deeley crazy. (It is especially satisfying to see her on the Shakespeare Theatre stage.)

Pinter seems to be posing the question: Is memory reliable? What are the things we remember and why. These three have known each other for twenty years. Of course, each will remember things - happenings - differently. But how differently? In other words, Pinter has written a riddle. When one of them thinks he/she has the final truth, it simply evanesces into thin air…And Kate continues to smile.

Old Times, by Harold Pinter - a brilliant cast brilliantly directed by Michael Kahn, by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Landsburgh. A wonderful, emotionally and mentally engaging production…And definitely one to see more than once.

The Kennedy Center production of Follies is fabulous! Talent, scenic design, staging, full orchestra (great sound), and again talent - Director Eric Schaeffer (director of Signature Theatre in Arlington) has done his mentor, Stephen Sondheim proud.

The time is l971, the old Weismann Theater is in the process of being torn down. So the stars of yesterday have come together for one last time. And hovering around are the ghosts of the theater - the gorgeous women with huge headdresses and sexy costumes (a la the Zeigfeld Follies, which is who they were) to remind us of the glamour and talent that used to transpire in this old decrepit building.

The action revolves, mainly, around two couples in the present, as they have aged, and we also see them thirty years earlier - eager young newcomers coming together and beginning their theater lives. Sally (Bernadette Peters) married Buddy (Danny Burstein). Phyllis (Jan Maxwell) married Ben (Ron Raines). Nobody is happy. In fact they're miserable.

Burstein, Maxwell, and Raines are terrific. Unfortunately, Bernadette Peters (nominally the star) is very disappointing as Sally. She has some of the show's most emotional moments, but though we can see the emotion roiling around in her body, somehow she can't seem to express it.

It's wonderful to see Linda Lavin, Elaine Page, Ron Raines, Jan Maxwell, and Florence Lacy belting out numbers. It's also great to see longtime local performers David Sabin, Frederick Strother, and Terrence Currier up there on the Kennedy Center stage.

Set Designer Derek McLane's decaying, falling down theater is very effective in showing not only the passage of time, but it also symbolizes the sad erosion in the lives of the two couples, from the time when they were young and eager for life…to the bitterness of now. There is, however, one wonderful splash, avalanche, of color in the “Loveland” sequence. Millions of pink bows festoon and light up the stage one last time. It's gorgeous.

Follies, Directed by Eric Schaeffer at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre - I loved almost every moment of it.

Venus In Fur, at The Studio Theatre, is a sly, extremely funny, provocative exercise in sexual dominance and masochism. In the process, Playwright David Ives reverses the usual order of a theater rehearsal room, and shows that for some, at least, a little cruelty adds a lot of spice.

The term masochism derives from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch who wrote the l870 novella Venus in Furs. This is about a nobleman who, because of a childhood whipping experience, wishes to be subjugated by women. In this modern adaptation, Playwright Ives turns it into a play audition in which Thomas the playwright/director (played by Christian Conn), starts out as the boss, but is gradually (and willingly) superceded and dominated by the actress-auditioner, Vanda (played by Erica Sullivan).

One can discuss at length the history and philosophy of Ives's source. However, it is really what happens on stage that counts. And that is a delightful Vanda, who arrives late for the audition, just as Thomas is getting ready to leave, and simply takes over….pretty much ignoring all his protests…she changes the lighting…takes off her coat to reveal her bustier, black garters and stockings, and studded dog collar. This, she eventually puts around his neck, together with the frock coat she also takes from her huge bag of unending surprises. Vanda…pardon me, Erica Sullivan, is a real find…She plays funny, she plays sexy…She's just damn good. And Christian Conn, playing Director Thomas is a great foil.

Venus In Fur, Staged by Artistic Director David Muse, at The Studio Theatre - Even at only ninety minutes and with terrific acting and clever staging, it still seemed to me a bit long. Even so, Erica Sullivan and her “Vanda” creation are a unique combination, definitely worth spending a little time with.