The election of our current president has led to a glut of productions of this parable of fascism and corruption during the rise of Hitler; this version at Classic Stage Company is the fourth in New York this year. Since my track record with Brecht is not good — I will admit somewhat shamefacedly that I have never really enjoyed a Brecht play — it was probably a mistake for me even to get a ticket. However, hope springs eternal and I was curious to see what CSC director John Doyle would do with the play and how Raul Esparza (Company, The Homecoming) an actor I have always enjoyed, would fare in the title role. I should have stayed home. I found the production wanting in just about every respect. First there is the play itself. I did not think transposing Hitler’s rise to the story of a gangster fighting for control of the Chicago cauliflower trust was an apt metaphor. Lest we miss the connections, an announcer bursts in periodically to tell us what event in Germany corresponds to what is happening onstage. Secondly I had a problem with George Tabori’s translation, which alternated between stilted verse and gangster talk. Thirdly, I was puzzled by Doyle’s ugly set which fences off the back of the stage to represent some vague industrial space with workmen’s lockers, helmets hanging on the wall and bright lights shined at the audience periodically. (Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about shining bright lights in the audience’s eyes.) The actors periodically drag chairs and folding tables from this back room to and from the main performing space. The costumes by Ann Hould-Ward (Passion, Allegro) offered little help in defining the characters. I never did figure out why actors donned welder’s helmets from time to time. The quality of the acting varied. I thought Eddie Cooper (This Ain't No Disco) as Roma and Christopher Gurr (All the Way) as Dogsboro/Dullfeet stood out. The other actors were George Abud (The Band's Visit), Elizabeth A. Davis (Allegro), Omozé Idehenre, Mahira Kakkar (The Winter's Tale) and Thom Sesma (Pacific Overtures). As for Raul Esparza, he coped reasonably well with a role that was not a natural fit. The first act builds rather slowly. In my favorite scene, Ui hires an actor to teach him how to walk, talk and sit. After intermission, the audience was a bit smaller. The mood darkens in the second act and we start hearing faint recorded shouts of “Sieg Heil!” in the background. The transformation of this shout to “Lock her up!” in the final moments was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. While a cautionary tale about how fascism develops is certainly welcome today, I don’t feel this is a very effective one. Running time: two hours five minutes including intermission. NOTE: CSC no longer distributes paper programs so you may want to download the digital version on your smartphone before you arrive.
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