By Tom Sime, KERA 90.1 commentator.
Dallas, TX – "The Countess" delves into the art and social history of Victorian England. But it's the glimpse of the history of British scandal that makes it most interesting. Rather like "Gaslight," the George Cukor/Ingrid Bergman movie thriller, "The Countess" shows how a husband's deception can drive a woman insane. But while Bergman's Victorian-age character was deliberately targeted by a scheming Charles Boyer, it's more complicated in "The Countess."
This recent New York hit, getting its area debut in a terrific production at Circle Theatre in Ft. Worth, tells the story of a real-life love triangle that for its time put scandals like Watergate and O.J. to shame. The most influential cultural critic in England at the time, and perhaps ever, was John Ruskin. He championed the cause of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a young group of painters whose work looks fussy to modern eyes, but which was considered radically naturalistic at the time. One of the best was John Everett Millais, whom Ruskin befriended.
The critic and his wife Effie, nicknamed "The Countess," took Millais with them for a two-month country retreat in Scotland, and by the time everyone went home, Effie and Millais were in love. "The Countess" focuses on that fateful holiday, which allowed Millais to see behind the fa?ade of refinement and kindness Ruskin presented to the world.
Millais, played by Jeffrey Schmidt, came to the conclusion that Ruskin was the worst sort of psychological abuser. And so does playwright Gregory Murphy. Stan Graner never makes Ruskin a cartoonish villain; he's remarkably subtle. But Heather Child is so winning and moving as poor Effie that we ache with sympathy as her husband convinces her that the reason he refuses to touch her is the repulsiveness of her "woman's body." Here, her longing to get away from London hints at the deeper unhappiness within:
Effie: Remember Venice? How happy we were?
Ruskin: I was so proud of you!
Effie: Were you?
Ruskin: Of course I was!
Effie: You never told me!
Ruskin: I wish the world could always be Venice for you Effie, but it can't.
Effie: Yes, I know...
Ruskin: And dear, you must know it's not London that makes you so unhappy.
Effie: But I feel there as if I would suffocate...
Ruskin: With all your friends? My parents...
Effie: Yes, but...
Ruskin: You are so loved and admired.
Effie: What matters that if I don't know that you love me!
Ruskin: Love you! Effie, I couldn't possibly love you more! No man could!
The play looks great, with luscious costumes and excellent performances under Susan Sargeant's direction. Beverly May is marvelous as Ruskin's pious mother. And Kristina Baker makes a powerful impression as Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, a progressive writer friend who at last ferrets out the secret that gives Effie a way out of her corrosive marriage.
The Ruskin-Millais scandal was huge at the time, and any turn-of-the-century Englishman could have told you how it all turned out. But it's been largely forgotten, and at Circle, the suspense is heavy. Only after the play is finished is a placard posted telling us how the characters fared in real life. Until then, we're trapped in Effie's world, where the future looks simply impossible.
Tom Sime is staff critic for The Dallas Morning News.