ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
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BY IRV RIKON
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TWO PLAY REVIEWS TO OPEN THE 2009 - 2010 SEASON
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Our local theatrical season has opened with two masterworks, one old, one a World Premiere, therefore brand-new. We'll start with the World Premiere first.
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Take your seat at FLORIDA STAGE in Manalapan. The time is the present. The setting for Seth Rozin's Two Jews Walk Into a War is the partially-destroyed chapel of the only remaining synagogue in Kabul, Afghanistan. At the very opening of the play, a bomb or shell hits the house of worship, destroying more of it and causing the two men in what's left of the building to scurry. An unlikely subject for a comedy, which this is, it's also poignant and mesmerizing, faultlessly acted and directed, with onstage effects that can boggle your mind. In short, FLORIDA STAGE's World Premiere production is a show not to be missed.
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The comedy begins at the outset, because the two men hate each other and hurl insults as though to prove it. The poignancy likewise comes early, because they realize they are the only two persons left of their "community". They'll have to work together to salvage whatever they can. Perhaps somehow they might even "re-populate" Jewish Kabul. But this is a thought-provoking play. Like everything else around, their beloved Torah, the sacred first five books of the Hebrew Bible, has been destroyed or at very least has disappeared. If God is to save them, don't they need the Book? One of the men has memorized the Torah; the other finds paper on which to write, so the former dictates to the latter, and the creating of a new Holy Book is begun.
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But what does God say to his now-tiny community or, for that matter, to any other? Why is this said in one paragraph or sentence and something else in another? Or why does God omit His ideas altogether, implying something or possibly nothing? Throughout all this, two men bicker, one dictating, the other writing Holy Writ, each disagreeing as to the meaning of God's words and, even, questioning the punctuation separating the words.
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The play's men are Jewish, but the scope of the play is universal. What is a "community"? When God speaks, what is said? What does He say when He remains silent, as with the Holocaust? Is there a God? These are heady subjects even in a philosophy or theology class, but the odd thing is that, as audience, you never stop laughing. This play is funny! Yet it's also heart-warming and, ultimately, sad.
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The acting? Superb! One expects great Jewishness from AVI HOFFMAN who, after all, wrote the popular Too Jewish and Too Jewish, Too! The real surprise is Scottish-born GORDON McCONNELL, who deserves another best-actor Carbonell Award for his role here. Everyone associated with this production deserves an award. As for Mr. Rozin, who wrote the work, in my humble judgment, he easily moves to the ranks of one of America's best contemporary playwrights.
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Whatever your religion, or if you have none, this is a play to see.
If laughter is what you like, you'll appreciate this. If you love brilliant acting, rush over to FLORIDA STAGE. Here's the season's first real theatrical treasure, and it runs until November 29. (For tickets and additional information, telephone 585-3433 or ( www.floridastage.org )
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Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House has been recognized for over a century as being a landmark play and one of the most influential ever written. During the 1960s, leaders of the Women's Liberation Movement heralded it. Nora leaves her husband and children and slams the door. Bang! Now PALM BEACH DRAMA WORKS in West Palm Beach is reviving it. Although the drama is long by today's measurements, its story actually begins sometime earlier. Nora's husband Torvald, a banker, had been ill. To affect a cure, he'd been advised to get away. But he lacked funds. Unbeknownst to Torvald, Nora had forged a signature in order to obtain a loan for him, thereby saving his life. Now the man from whom she procured the loan wants a position in her husband's bank. If he fails to get what he wants, he will expose Nora. The truth is eventually revealed. Torvald, hidebound, uptight, is totally revolted by the woman he has always treated as a "doll". Now he scolds, chastises, humiliates her. She can take it no more. She leaves, slamming the door. Bang!
Our local theatrical season has opened with two masterworks, one old, one a World Premiere, therefore brand-new. We'll start with the World Premiere first.
-
Take your seat at FLORIDA STAGE in Manalapan. The time is the present. The setting for Seth Rozin's Two Jews Walk Into a War is the partially-destroyed chapel of the only remaining synagogue in Kabul, Afghanistan. At the very opening of the play, a bomb or shell hits the house of worship, destroying more of it and causing the two men in what's left of the building to scurry. An unlikely subject for a comedy, which this is, it's also poignant and mesmerizing, faultlessly acted and directed, with onstage effects that can boggle your mind. In short, FLORIDA STAGE's World Premiere production is a show not to be missed.
-
The comedy begins at the outset, because the two men hate each other and hurl insults as though to prove it. The poignancy likewise comes early, because they realize they are the only two persons left of their "community". They'll have to work together to salvage whatever they can. Perhaps somehow they might even "re-populate" Jewish Kabul. But this is a thought-provoking play. Like everything else around, their beloved Torah, the sacred first five books of the Hebrew Bible, has been destroyed or at very least has disappeared. If God is to save them, don't they need the Book? One of the men has memorized the Torah; the other finds paper on which to write, so the former dictates to the latter, and the creating of a new Holy Book is begun.
-
But what does God say to his now-tiny community or, for that matter, to any other? Why is this said in one paragraph or sentence and something else in another? Or why does God omit His ideas altogether, implying something or possibly nothing? Throughout all this, two men bicker, one dictating, the other writing Holy Writ, each disagreeing as to the meaning of God's words and, even, questioning the punctuation separating the words.
-
The play's men are Jewish, but the scope of the play is universal. What is a "community"? When God speaks, what is said? What does He say when He remains silent, as with the Holocaust? Is there a God? These are heady subjects even in a philosophy or theology class, but the odd thing is that, as audience, you never stop laughing. This play is funny! Yet it's also heart-warming and, ultimately, sad.
-
The acting? Superb! One expects great Jewishness from AVI HOFFMAN who, after all, wrote the popular Too Jewish and Too Jewish, Too! The real surprise is Scottish-born GORDON McCONNELL, who deserves another best-actor Carbonell Award for his role here. Everyone associated with this production deserves an award. As for Mr. Rozin, who wrote the work, in my humble judgment, he easily moves to the ranks of one of America's best contemporary playwrights.
-
Whatever your religion, or if you have none, this is a play to see.
If laughter is what you like, you'll appreciate this. If you love brilliant acting, rush over to FLORIDA STAGE. Here's the season's first real theatrical treasure, and it runs until November 29. (For tickets and additional information, telephone 585-3433 or ( www.floridastage.org )
***
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House has been recognized for over a century as being a landmark play and one of the most influential ever written. During the 1960s, leaders of the Women's Liberation Movement heralded it. Nora leaves her husband and children and slams the door. Bang! Now PALM BEACH DRAMA WORKS in West Palm Beach is reviving it. Although the drama is long by today's measurements, its story actually begins sometime earlier. Nora's husband Torvald, a banker, had been ill. To affect a cure, he'd been advised to get away. But he lacked funds. Unbeknownst to Torvald, Nora had forged a signature in order to obtain a loan for him, thereby saving his life. Now the man from whom she procured the loan wants a position in her husband's bank. If he fails to get what he wants, he will expose Nora. The truth is eventually revealed. Torvald, hidebound, uptight, is totally revolted by the woman he has always treated as a "doll". Now he scolds, chastises, humiliates her. She can take it no more. She leaves, slamming the door. Bang!
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At a time when American women are equal to men and, indeed, during this economic downturn, when they are frequently a family's breadwinner, Ibsen's masterpiece can seem antiquated. It's not. This is a Norwegian play, a WESTERN play. Around the globe countless women are still regarded as "dolls" or sex slaves or whatever it is the men in their lives will make of them. A Doll's House would not be welcomed in conservative Muslim countries.
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Unfortunately, this production is flawed. At the beginning, director William Hayes has Nora (Margery Lowe) flutter about the stage, her nerves on edge for fear of what may come. By the time her fears are realized, she is flat-out hysterical. That isn't Ibsen's Nora. It's the director's. Ibsen's Nora was level-headed when she forged a signature. She had options. She chose one, a risky one, but she chose it. At the end, she again has options: to stay and live with this insufferable man, to whom she is as a puppet to a puppeteer, or to go. A long time ago, if push came to shove, she knew what her choice must be. Slam the door. Bang!
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Even a flawed production of Ibsen warrants a look-see if only for the reason, after Shakespeare, Ibsen was arguably the greatest playwright who has yet lived. Moreover, the acting here is always interesting and good, despite the fact I question how the work is interpreted. The costumes and stage set are excellent, and you're free to put your own spin on Ibsen's words, so go. Closing date is November 29. (For tickets and additional information, call 514-4042 or online: ( www.palmbeachdramaworks.com )
Even a flawed production of Ibsen warrants a look-see if only for the reason, after Shakespeare, Ibsen was arguably the greatest playwright who has yet lived. Moreover, the acting here is always interesting and good, despite the fact I question how the work is interpreted. The costumes and stage set are excellent, and you're free to put your own spin on Ibsen's words, so go. Closing date is November 29. (For tickets and additional information, call 514-4042 or online: ( www.palmbeachdramaworks.com )
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