My third show at the Shaw Festival this year was a true classic -- Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw himself. It seems a pity, in a way, that Shaw has become so "unfashionable" these days. The audience was comprised mostly of people who appeared somewhat older than my nearly 60 years.
Well, so much the worse for the younger crowd. But in time I expect the wheel will turn full circle. Many playwrights, and indeed many creative artists of all genres, have had to go through a period of "exile" following their lifetime successes before posterity resurrects and reaffirms their work, and Shaw seems to be in the exile phase right now.
That said, even as powerful a play as Major Barbara is not without its weaknesses. Shaw wrote himself into a paradoxical dilemma by creating Barbara's father, Andrew Undershaft, as such a demonically clever and powerfully convincing antagonist for her. At the end of Act II it seems that he has already won the battle between them, an impression reinforced by the tone of Act III. We know that Shaw had a lot of trouble with Act IV, and it shows. Here, and here only, the action of the play decomposes into lengthy rhetorical speeches. At an early point in this last act it seems as if Adolphus Cusins and Andrew Undershaft have already resolved the tangled threads of the plot -- why, then, does Undershaft have to keep demanding that Cusins make up his mind when it seems that he has already done so? I've always felt that this weak last act somewhat undoes the dramatic drive and power of the first three acts. Were I directing the show, I should feel very tempted to start blue-pencilling this final scene.
But that's just me. Anyone who has ever tried writing plays knows that he or she could do it much better than the playwright in question. This is known as a wannabe author's ego trip!
As for the performance, kudos first and foremost to Jackie Maxwell for helming a production of this flawed masterpiece that went far to minimize the flaws, while making the most of the strengths. In the intimate stage space of the Royal George Theatre, Maxwell and designer Judith Bowden have come up with three different settings that each speak of the worlds they represent. The Salvation Army shelter of Act II was especially noteworthy for conveying a simultaneous impression of back-streets poverty alongside the Army's determination to keep its quarters neat and clean. Each set created plenty of usable acting space, which Maxwell used to the full.
The cast must be led, of course, by Andrew and Barbara. As the Salvation Army major, Nicole Underhay turned in another of those sterling performances which have made her one of the great treasures of the Shaw company. In every scene she took Barbara exactly where she needed to go, and did it with fire and passion. Even in her depressed moments in Act III, the passion shone through to show us that while Major Barbara might be down, she definitely was not out. Her coaxing manner in the Salvationists' shelter was just as involving as her ecstatic re-definition of herself in Act IV.
As her father, the international munitions manufacturer, Benedict Campbell turned in the best performance of this fascinating monster that I have ever seen. It's funny to recall now, but a look through the pictures in the program book reminded me that I was right. The first production of Major Barbara that I ever attended was at the Shaw Festival in 1978, with Campbell's father Douglas in this central role. Visually, Benedict Campbell looks just like his father in the same role!
But the resemblance stops right there. Douglas Campbell was famous for his deep, booming bass, one of the most dominating voices I've ever heard on any theatrical stage, anywhere. Benedict Campbell can dominate too, when he has to, but with moments chosen carefully so that the "everybody-freeze-on-the-spot" quality appears only at a few key moments when it is really needed. This Undershaft displays an awesome variety of speaking styles -- by turns genial, coaxing, friendly, forceful, wheedling, didactic, and overwhelming, to name only a few. It's a tour de force for use of the voice on stage, and I would not hesitate to call this a "definitive" performance -- while being perfectly aware that others will disagree.
The third great strength of this production is the uniformly strong set of performances turned in by all the supporting actors. Laurie Paton as Lady Britomart Undershaft provokes plenty of hilarity right in the opening scene with her sublimely timed overriding of her son (played with appropriate bewilderment by Ben Sanders). Graeme Somerville finds all the varied notes required in the rapidly evolving character of the Greek professor, Adolphus Cusins, who ultimately becomes the heir to the Undershaft munitions factory. Wade Bogert-O'Brien keeps a firm grip on the inanities of Charles Lomax, making sure that this shallow fool never descends into mere caricature. James Pendarves did fine work in living out the driving force of frustration behind the words and actions of the ultimately powerless bully Bill Walker, in the shelter in Act II.
Apart, then, from my desire to start editing that last act, I have no serious criticism at all of the way Jackie Maxwell and company have mounted this powerhouse play -- a splendid re-creation of one of Shaw's most powerful and perplexing pieces.
No comments:
Post a Comment