| . | 11/14/2009
Brecht on Brecht
By: Joel Benjamin
(L to r): Audrey Lavine, Judy Krause, and Jerry Marsini Photos by: Jim Baldassare
Not seen on the New York stage since its famed 1962 Broadway production, the Accidental Repertory Theater’s chamber production, under the direction of its founder, John Strasberg, offers audiences a chance to re-evaluate and consider Bertolt Brecht, whose work is sadly a bit out of favor at the moment.
Mr. Strasberg’s company of seven actors performed in the intimate studio of the ART and at no time was more than 10 feet from any audience member. The great theatrical and vocal flourishes of the original Broadway cast (which included the inimitable Lotte Lenya and the beautiful Viveca Lindfors) were avoided in place of nuanced, low-keyed interpretations of the Brecht texts and songs. In fact the ART’s Brecht on Brecht only tripped up when the performers went over the top in several imprudently staged vaudeville-esque scenes.
Mr. Strasberg chose not to perform the entire work as done on Broadway, eliminating sections not directly written by Brecht and adding one or two appropriate finds such as the wonderful “Lost Glory of the Metropolis NY” which opened the first of four sections, So Many Questions. Here Brecht commented on how the Wall St. collapse (and entire capitalistic philosophy) affected the exuberance he had first experience in pre-Depression NYC, turning the City into a place of despair and frustrated hope. Other vignettes in this section included the snippets “Inscription on a China Lion” (performed by Robert Rowe) and “The Pessimist” ( Judy Krause) both tart commentaries on life and art. Just as sardonic were “Questions from a Son” (Louis Vuolo & Audrey Lavine) in which a damaged world affects a child’s education and “Parable of the Burning House” (Jerry Marsini & Ms. Krause) where the Buddha tells of a family whose woeful indecision dooms them to be burned alive.
(L to R): Robert Rowe, Louis Vuolo, Virginia Armitage, and Jerry Marsini
The Business of War began with Ms. Lavine’s subtle and guileless performance of “Mother Courage Song” in which Mother Courage expresses her down-to-earth view of the disasters of war. In “Life of Galileo,” performed by Mr. Rowe, the great scientist takes another look at his condemnation by the Catholic Church and realizes how his mistakes allowed the ignorant and powerful to prevent progress. Ms. Krause’s interpretation of the “Song of a German Mother” was a strong statement against sending a country’s youth to fight for doubtful and dangerous causes.
The Banished Poets act dealt with literature. “Of Poor B.B.” recited by the men, told of Brecht’s feeling of alienation as he observed and became a reluctant part of the big city society he moved into. In “The Burning of the Books” a brave author is insulted that his work isn’t burnt by authorities who have condemned all open thought to the bonfires. Judy Krause’s “Surabaya Johnny” was refreshingly low-keyed and rueful, rather than the usual tough and angry.
The final section, Does Man Help Man: Change the World contained the most well-known and performed work: “The Jewish Wife.” However, before that came a quietly remorseful “Pirate Jenny” by Ms. Lavine and “Does Man Help Man,” an over-the-top, way too obvious burlesque bit in which a man’s arms, legs and head are cut off to “save” him. “The Jewish Wife” was performed in an effective matter-of-fact manner by Anne Pasquale, who up until then had only served to M.C. Brecht on Brecht. She held the stage for nearly twenty minutes as the Jewish wife of an Aryan in Nazi Germany who has decided, in the guise of a long vacation, to leave him in order to protect her husband and, more importantly, to escape the escalating anti-Semitism all around her. She goes about calling friends, in-laws and associates to make all the necessary arrangements and, in her imagination, confronts her wavering husband. Here Brecht reduced Germany’s despicable turn to the right to a very human scale.
Brecht on Brecht ended with an appeal to act for the common good, the song “Change the World.”
Ross Patterson served as musical director and accompanist, providing the singers with strong support. The production also benefited from title slides by Dennis Davies which were projected onto the wall giving organization to a program that consisted of so many selections.
It’s difficult to give isolated praise to any one actor in such a small company. They all performed well under Mr. Strasberg’s direction, but the fine song interpretations by Judy Krause and Audrey Lavine and Anne Pasquale’s quiet “Jewish Wife” were highlights. Louis Vuolo, the elder statesman of the cast added weight and experience; Robert Rowe an everyman sensibility; and Jerry Marsini a youthful machismo. Virginia Armitage kept her “Abortion is Illegal” song from going sour with a surprised, wide-eyed innocence.
It’s rare to see high quality theater in such up-close, intimate surroundings and even rarer to attend a performance that keeps an audience’s attention. John Strasberg and his Accidental Repertory Theater company achieved this, plus giving New York audiences a chance to see and hear Bertolt Brecht re-interpreted.
BRECHT ON BRECHT By George Tabori
The Accidental Repertory Theater
Directed by John Strasberg
555 Eighth Ave., Suite 403
New York, NY 10019
October 29th – November 21st, 2009
646-435-7867 or www.smarttix.com
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