By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Creatista
"The Little Foxes" reminds us it was a man's world in Alabama as the 20th century began.
There is much to ponder in the Winding Road Theater Ensemble's ambitious production of Lillian Hellman's “The Little Foxes.” Mostly because much change has disrupted American society since the play first appeared on Broadway in 1939.
Slipping further back in time, “The Little Foxes” is set in an upscale Alabama mansion in 1900. Cotton was still king back then and the Hubbard brothers planned on turning their smallish fortunes into massive wealth.
All they had to do was give $225,000 to a certain Chicago industrialist who would have a northern-type cotton mill built right nex to the brothers' own Alabama cotton fields.
And to do that, Benjamin Hubbard (David Alexander Johnston) and Oscar Hubbard (Dave Davidson) just needed to get their sister Regina Giddens (Cynthia Jeffery) to chip in a third of the money as an equal partner.
Only...it was 1900 and Regina didn't have any of her own money. That belonged to her husband, Horace Giddens (Eric Rau). Which is exactly where your after-show pondering will begin. Hellman was always up for expressing her liberal feminist activist views in public.
Though the play's more formal dialogue and structure can make the proceedings on stage feel stiff at times, Glen Coffman as director still gives a good squeeze to all the big juicy scenes.
Jeffrey delivers an epic performance as a clever woman whose moxie could match Scarlet O'Hara when it comes to getting what she wants in a man's world. Much of the cleverness takes place in power shifting confrontations as first Regina, then Benjamin, then Oscar, then Regina again have the upper hand.
Playing out those round-robin bouts becomes a mental slugfest of ensemble acting, four quality players going toe-to-toe-to-toe-to-toe.
More layers of social commentary are found in the secondary roles. Each of them gets at least one spotlight scene and each makes the most of the moment.
Heartbreaking is Denise Blum as Birdie, over-medicating herself with alcohol. She only wants to live a gracious Southern life, but instead feels surrounded by very unyielding men of rapacious greed.
Playing young Leo Hubbard, the son of Birdie and Oscar, is Damian Garicia hitting an amusing note of spoiled dufus ineptitude.
Getting the dramatic closing scene to herself and bringing hope into the future is Morgan H. Smith as Regina's daughter Alexandra.
Ominous in their silence were the Hubbard household's two servants, scarcely more than a generation removed from being slaves themselves – Addie (Gianbari “Debora” Deebom) and Cal (Richard “Chomps” Thompson),
Plan on having thoughtful discussions about gender, race and greed after the curtain falls. “The Little Foxes” may be 80 years old, but it feels so current. After all, customs and culture may be changing, but through the centuries human nature has always stayed the same.
“The Little Foxes” runs through Sept. 15 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, at the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, in the Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Ave. For details and reservations, 520-401-3626, or visit windingroadtheater.org
