Charles Morey

(Originally produced as “Alexandre Dumas and the Lady of the Camelias”)

Pioneer Theatre Company
January, 2004

In the second act of “Alexandre Dumas and the Lady of the Camélias” – a tale based on a true story – there is a confrontation so powerfully written and acted it may give you chills... the thing is, it never actually happened... Charles Morey makes a thrilling case for how little that detail actually matters in his new original play... Morey addresses one of the most fundamental questions of biographical art – the responsibility to “truth” – in a spectacularly resonant and multi-layered production... Through layers of re-interpretation from page to stage to opera, the story of Dumas and Marie turns into an artistic game of “telephone,” each successive version more distant from the facts that gave it birth... The soaring voices accentuate the power brought to the tale by its musical re-invention, even if it may be the version most distant from Dumas’ life. Dialogue overlaps and ricochets between speakers; the many names for the same people drift in and out of the conversations. It’s a superb juggling act... But the star here is a thought provoking meditation on how deeply art can move us – even when we know everything the author is telling us may be a big, fat, lie.

“Camélias” blends fact, fiction...Layer upon layer, fact and fiction waltz around the room, sometimes overlapping... Charles Morey’s intriguingly staged production spans a half-century of Dumas’ memory and imagination...You don’t have to be familiar with the opera to be quickly drawn into Morey’s beautifully structured story. ... The story is masterfully told...

...a new, innovative look at “Alexandre Dumas and the Lady of the Camélias”... (can’t) be brushed off as just another “Moulin Rouge”... because it takes advantage of a nifty, multi-layered set-up to ask questions about the roles of art and memory... One of the play’s biggest strengths is the way it simplifies what could be a very convoluted concept. Boundaries and characters remain very clearly defined at all times... It becomes about the boundaries between fiction and reality, between what really happened and what we believe to have happened, and which of these really matters in the end. A series of plot twists leaves us questioning not only Dumas’ artistic memory, but also to a certain extent, his character. It’s a fascinating and well constructed look at the way we look at art and at our pasts.

...part adaptation, part original play...(it) blends music and drama in an unusual way... “Camélias” is not the un-equivocal success of “Musketeers” or “Monte Cristo” but it is intriguing. With more work, it might be remarkable. The language is often beautiful and Morey throws in tasty plot twists along the way... “Camélias” might strike gold among the audience demographic that loves such works as “Amadeus.”