Now playing at the Little Theatre of Alexandria, “Is He Dead?” is based on a recently discovered play by Mark Twain. The play is based on Twain’s own short story, “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” and is based on fictional events in the life of the real French artist Jean-Francois Millet. In this play, we meet the talented painter in his youth. He is in love with a woman named Marie Leroux, but a villainous art dealer, Bastien Andre, desires to force her to marry him instead.
What drives the comedy of the play is Twain’s shrewd observation, in the words of his original short story, that “every great unknown and neglected artist must and will be recognized and his pictures climb to high prices after his death.” Indeed, we see this “law” (as Twain termed it) in action when, early in the play, a very wealthy arts patron admires and is about to purchase one of Millet’s paintings…but when the patron is told that the painter is still alive, he quickly leaves the gallery without purchasing anything! Millet and his friends “solve” this problem by faking the artist’s death. Predictably, interest in his art flourishes, with his paintings becoming invaluable. Millet—still very much alive—profits by pretending to be his own sister, the widow Tillou.
As a result of his ruse, Millet becomes well-off financially. Yet now he must find some means to return to the world of the living so that he may marry Marie. A bit like an Oscar Wilde play, the show fluctuates between being a farce based on mistaken identities and a drawing room comedy. Also present is an interesting discussion of the nature of art itself: is great art not great regardless of whether it was painted by a living artist or one now dead?
The play’s variations in tone from understated comedy to near-slapstick may strike some as fast-paced and others as a little uneven. Without a doubt, however, the acting is very strong, and the production, directed skillfully by Joey Pierce, has much to recommend it. Lanny Warkentien is excellent as artist Millet, and also as his alter ego, the widow Tillou. Kirk Lambert is in fine imperious form as the villainous art dealer and landlord Bastien Andre. Sarah Keisler is a wonderful Marie Leroux, a refined-but-not-wealthy woman of nineteenth-century France. The setting of the story, an artist’s colony in France with characters of various nationalities, is also well-drawn. Hanlon Smith-Dorsey, for instance, is excellent as Millet’s German friend Dutchy. Mr. Smith-Dorsey seems to be a master of dialects, for we last saw him with a spot-on British accent in “Table Manners” at NOVA Nightsky Theatre in Falls Church.
Matt Liptak’s excellent set design (shifting between an impoverished lodging in Act 1 and an elegant drawing room in Act 2), as well as Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley’s first-rate costumes, lend the production a compelling period atmosphere.
Art devotees take note, for the production has a special component: the Little Theatre of Alexandria is presenting this play in cooperation with Alexandria’s Art League. The latter group is hosting a collaborative exhibition of works related to the themes of this Mark Twain comedy. Works on display include Catherine Messina’s acrylic of a church and graveyard in her “Goodbye, All My Fathers;” Judy Guenther’s haunting monochrome photograph “Cherub of Death;” and Rob Baker’s striking photograph “The Afterlife,” featuring a man leisurely reading on a bed as another man, his back to us, stands by with his top hat afire. Many of these images do indeed reflect back on the play “Is He Dead?”, with its themes of mortality and death often lurking behind the bright comedy. Both the play and the art exhibit run at the Little Theatre of Alexandria through June 8, 2024. The theatre’s address is 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. More information on performances may be found at thelittletheatre.com, while images of the artwork on display may be seen at theartleague.org/event/collaborative-exhibit-with-the-little-theater-of-alexandria.
