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Theater review: ‘Eternal Equinox’ at GTC Burbank

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When it comes to complicated sexual entanglements, England’s early 20th century collective of writers, artists and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group could hold their own with today’s tabloids. Named for the central London culture district in which its principal members resided, the group shared a progressive ideology in matters of art, politics and polyamorous pursuits.

All of which figure prominently in Joyce Sachs’ new docudrama, ‘Eternal Equinox,’ which focuses on three Bloomsbury-related figures: painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and their mutual friend, the mountaineering celebrity George Mallory. Set in scenic designer Leonard Ogden’s impressively detailed 1923 summer house where pioneering feminist Bell (Gillian Doyle) and the self-absorbed but talented Grant (Christopher McFarland), her partner and housemate, vie for the affections of the preternaturally handsome Mallory (Justin Ellis).

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Thinking of this as a romantic triangle, however, seriously oversimplifies the geometry. Bell was still married, and on good terms with her husband and children, one of whom was fathered by the predominantly homosexual Grant. Grant’s bed was rather a revolving door -- one of the chief annoyances of their open lifestyle seems to be the frequency with which Bell finds herself barging in on Grant with his other lovers. Mallory is also married, but his heart belongs to Mount Everest (he will die the following year in his third attempt to scale it).

To Sachs’ credit, her extensively researched play tackles the emotional complexities and conflicted loyalties that go with these characters’ refusal to be bound by social norms (Doyle in particular gives a finely shaded performance), but their arguments are rather heady and way too polite. Director Kevin Cochran tries for a sensual balance with brief recurring nudity. The main problem, though, is that while these people talk about all the brilliant things they’ve said and done, they never say or do anything particularly brilliant -- the whole thing comes across as more of a history lesson than a compelling window into radically unconventional lives.

--Philip Brandes

‘Eternal Equinox,’ GTC Burbank in George Izay Park, 1111B West Olive Ave., Burbank. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends July 25. $30. (818) 238-9998. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

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