June 30-July 6, 2005

artpicks

In the Bedroom

by Toby Zinman

theater

A bed, especially a four-poster, has long been a symbol of marriage (see Homer's Odyssey, for openers). Jan de Hartog's The Fourposter, which is being revived at the hot-stuff Contemporary Stage in Wilmington, was a Broadway hit in 1951, won a Tony in 1952, was then adapted for the screen and later became the musical I Do! I Do!

The play follows a couple through 40 years of marriage, from their own wedding to their daughter's and beyond. In this new version, set in Harlem, the husband will be played by Keith David, whose stage and film career was launched by playing opposite Christopher Walken in a staggeringly stylish production of Coriolanus, and has continued to range far and wide, through Platoon, Jelly's Last Jam, Clockers, There's Something About Mary and one of the voices in the Japanese animation Princess Mononoke. The role of the wife will be played by Jasmine Guy, best known as the snobbish Whitley in the Cosby spinoff A Different World and subsequently starring in Showtime's Dead Like Me; she has a long list of stage and TV credits.

The revival will be directed by Keith Powell, the 25-year-old artistic director of this new multicultural summer Equity company: His stage credits — classic and non — include both acting and directing, and are so lengthy and varied as to suggest he must have begun his career before birth. And he somehow managed to stuff in a guest star gig on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Last year, Contemporary Stage's inaugural season won a Barrymore for Lynn Redgrave's performance in Collected Stories. Powell is clearly a man to watch.

The Fourposter, Wed., July 6, 7 p.m., $20-$35, through July 17, Contemporary Stage Company, Grand Opera House, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del., 302-652-5577, www.contemporarystage.org.