It is an excellent production that demonstrates why the curio is rarely, if ever performed.
An overloaded satire with exuberant dialogue matched with a 1960’s biting sensibility, a familiar plot and Shavian speechifying that adds up to a patchy and long-winded experience. The characters come across as philosophical mouthpieces rather than real people. There's a strained tirade laden with profanity and racial slurs. Kurt Vonnegut’s penchant for funny names is delightfully evident.
Director Jeff Wise’s command of stagecraft that includes wild tableaus injects the production with much needed momentum and he obtains strong yet sensitive performances from the committed cast who are in the high decibel range.
Scenic designer Brittany Vasta’s gorgeous unit set of a living room is a dazzling feature of the production. Forest green with leaf-patterned walls adorned with taxidermy animal heads, a chandelier with antlers, elegant bric-a-brac and period furniture are an entrancing landscape to marvel at as the verbosity goes on. Christopher Metzger’s bold costume design perfectly evokes the look of circa 1970 with its loopy fashion sense abundant with animal prints, leather and brown, all adding to the visual splendor.
The sterling presentation reveals it to be a piece of its time with little theatrical weight that does faithfully convey the sly spirit of Vonnegut. |
