The Little Foxes

As we saw in last weekend's celebration in Montgomery, Alabama, of the 150th anniversary of Jefferson Davis' inauguration as president of the Confederacy, the myth of Southern gentility still persists, despite longstanding attempts to lay bare the truth.

Ed Baierlein as Ben and Gina Wencel as Regina Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

One of the most compelling efforts in this vein, Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, has lost none of its bite since it was first staged in 1939, as we find in this well-honed production now running at Germinal Stage Denver.

In the Hubbard family, we see the pretentions of the formerly landed Southern aristocracy running into stark realities of industrialization and its accelerated cycles of capitalization.

Ben (Ed Baierlein), the eldest of the clan, is consummating a deal with Marshall (Randy Diamon), a wealthy Chicagoan, to build a mill near the cotton fields that will save shipping costs and reap a killing via greater profit margins.

Gina Wencel as Regina and Heather Taylor as Alexandria Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

Ben enlists his younger brother, Oscar (Marc K. Moran), and sister, Regina (Gina Wencel), to invest in the venture. The sibling rivalry among the three is exacerbated by Ben's paternalism, not to mention a nasty chauvinistic streak among three generations of Hubbard men, including Oscar's son, Leo (Patrick Mann), that has driven the women in the family—Oscar's wife Birdie (Jennie MacDonald), Regina's daughter, Alexandra (Heather Taylor), and Regina herself—to drink, rebellion, and ruthlessness respectively.

Davida A. Terrell as Addie, Leroy Leonard as Horace, and Mark Branche as Cal Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

Only Regina's husband, Horace (Leroy Leonard), and Alexandra attempt to distance themselves from the miasma, with the help of two African-American servants, Cal (Mark Branche) and Addie (Davida A. Terrell), whom they alone treat with civility.

Playwright Hellman's strong views on economics and sexual politics come to the fore, providing a bittersweet climax for Regina, who wins the game, at the cost of her husband and her daughter. To our delight, Wencel and Baierlein go toe-to-toe, much as they did in last year's Amphitryon 38, with delicious maliciousness.

Moran's seething contempt and MacDonald's languishing fatalism stretch the Hubbard family dysfunction further, placing emotional escape out of reach.

Director Baierlein's well-tempered staging leaves us to discover for ourselves that the Hubbards are us, and their insular battles are the same ones fought out daily around the globe. Physical abuse, racism, and greed are a potent legacy to overcome, but do so we must.

"Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." (Song of Solomon, 2:15)

Germinal Stage Denver's The Little Foxes runs through March 20th. 303-455-7108.

Bob Bows