Wednesday 26th of September 2007
The Wedding / The Chalk Cross / The Beggar
by Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Zeljko Djukic
Produced by Open Theatre & C.I.T.E.
(Contemporary International Theatre Exchange)
Experimental Theatre at American University
Washington, D.C. / (202) 885-3410
Until September 7, 1996
[4 Stars]/ (5 Max)/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review© by Richard Gist - August 29, 1996
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's an unexpected surprise at the very peak of the dog days of summer: three short, largely ignored plays by Bertolt Brecht performed with bold and captivating style by the Open Theatre and C.I.T.E at the Experimental Theatre just inside the main gates of American University. The evening is marked by the deft and sensitive dramatic guidance of Yugoslav émigré director Zeljko Djukic, and serves as a magnificent showcase for the electrifying talents of actor Matt Brady, together with some highly polished individual and ensemble work.
"The Chalk Cross," the first of the three offerings is played before intermission and is by far the most enervating work of the evening -- so much so that the stunned audience members at the performance I attended sat silently when the houselights came up -- applause seemed somehow inappropriate after such a visceral experience of just under an hour.
"Chalk Cross" is taken from the cycle of scenes about various aspects of Hitler's regime called "Fear and Misery in the Third Reich," which Brecht wrote with Margarite Steffin. The action is more naturalistic than in the other two plays in the cluster, although the term "realism" would be a stretch. The thematic focal point is the mind-set of the paramilitary storm troopers in 1933 Germany.
Matt Brady captures all the chilling aspects of unrestrained authority and morbid cynicism in his complex portrayal of the "S.A. man," as these brownshirts were known before they were regrouped into the notorious S.S. The women in the scene are the house cook (Barbara Papendorp) and maidservant (Christine Brown) who are in turn demeaned and abused verbally and physically by the increasingly crass behavior of the militaristic young man, and their performances are as credibly terror-filled as Brady's is brutal.
A worker (Kevin Berryman) steps in for a visit and contributes to an atmosphere of mutual paranoia so pronounced that at one point the two men communicate by speaking from behind the women, manipulating them like human hand puppets in a memorable example of director Djukic's innovative staging. As the chauffeur (who also performs the musical lead-in to the scene on the piano), Jesse Terrill is suitably oblique and baffling.
Following the intermission, the theatrical masterpiece of the evening is unveiled, and what a superb job this ensemble does on Brecht's "The Wedding!" In the style often referred to as Bavarian folk comic, this slapsticky one-act play was written in the early 1920s, was finally produced in Frankfurt in 1926 and pronounced an immediate failure. Thanks to Mr. Brady who returns from intermission with all the zany comedic touches of a Sid Caesar in his prime and a terrific collection of off-the-wall characterizations by the rest of the ensemble, this wedding party shows a hilarious, high camp side of Brecht that has the audience gasping for air almost non-stop.
At the wedding reception in the newly married couple's apartment, the nine characters are seated behind a long table, facing the audience. We learn early on that the furniture in the flat was all made by the groom himself. Because of bad glue or something, the chairs begin to collapse -- but not before the manners and inhibitions of the family and guests do. We gradually learn that appearances are not necessarily reality and, one by one, the skeletons come tumbling out of everyone's closet.
Among the highlights of this theatrical gem is an indecent musical number, "The Ballad of Chastity," sung by Mr. Brady as the bridegroom's friend, and the excessively doting attention the bridegroom's mother (Lisa Lias) foists on her son (Mr. Terrill, who is again called upon to provide musical accompaniment throughout). L.R. Hults as the bride's garrulous and flatulent father does a fine job in subtly revealing his character's ability to get lost in his own verbosity.
The remaining actors all merit plaudits as well: Ms. Papendorp as the bulging bride, Ms. Brown as the wide-eyed femme fatale, Jacqueline Stone as a wife of dubious virtue and her primping, forgetful husband (Michael Sherwood) -- all of these characterizations are first-rate, and their stage business finely tuned by director Djukic's impressive touch. This is a party out-of-control that has all the earmarks of a highly memorable, if not historically significant, local production.
The final short piece in the evening's trio, "The Beggar" (or "The Dead Dog") consists of a dialogue between an emperor and a blind mendicant, in which the beggar berates the ruler for his random and feckless behavior, and far prefers contemplation of his own dead dog to discourse with the powerful. The lead role is well-acted by Mr. Hults as the beggar, as is the emperor by Mr. Brady, however the unbridled lunacy of the previous piece makes for a mighty tough act to follow, and much as dramaturg Joe Martin does a convincing job of justifying the thematic decision to close with this playlet, the choice comes across less well advised in dramatic terms.
Devin Strickland's sets were essentially barren, yet extremely efficient. His handling of the two part table in "The Wedding" and the suspended platform in "The Beggar" was particularly ingenious. Costume design and lighting (both by Nastasa Djukic) showed good accuracy and a fine eye for detail, and Arpad Sayko's sound design all evening was instrumental in heightening both the comic and highly dramatic effects, and his own musical composition in "The Wedding" provoked howls of laughter.
Bertolt Brecht was the very epitome of the times in which he lived, and many of the contradictions he either lived, witnessed, or sought out intentionally are brought into brief, yet brilliant, focus in this ambitious yet well-realized trio of Brechtian, yet not-so-Brechtian, one-acts on the campus of AU. It's the kind of production that deserves serious attention and a frenetic box office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Production Photo© 1996 Craig Cola
------------------------------------------------------------------------
/For information and reservations for this production call (202) 885-3410./