Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Suppose your most intellectually minded friend-call him Bernard-invited you to a dinner party and suggested that it might be a little different from his previous gatherings. Some of the invited guests would be familiar (Lady Brit, her estranged husband Andrew, and--of course--their extraordinary daughter Barbara, along with her two other siblings, beaus, missionaries and some downtrodden members of the undeserving poor). The menu would consist of sushi-infused Yorkshire pudding and steak and kidney pie teriyaki. The host would also be experimenting with his new video equipment. And the entertainment“ Well, he wasn't sure, but he had been recently listening to 17th century Japanese compositions and Rahsaan Roland Kirk recordings.

The Theater of a Two-headed Calf is presently offering "a Kabuki-influenced production" of "Major Barbara" at La MaMa's Annex Theater. Under the direction of Brooke O'Harra, Shaw's 1906 play dealing with politics, poverty, religion and war utilizes modern video technology (a "pen cam," a "ceiling cam," a "mug cam" and an old-fashioned hand-held cam) to televise assorted perspectives of the actors during the course of the play. Brendan Connelly's musical accompaniment played on an assortment of instruments by a four-person ensemble is quite varied, ranging from traditional Japanese to new compositions and jazz-type riffs. The costumes, designed by Tara Webb, are an amalgam of early 20th century styles with added flairs of Asian influence.

The three-act drama uses three spaces in La MaMa's Annex Theater building. Lady Britomart Undershaft's library of Act I, in the theater proper, is viewed through an eight-foot slot resembling a large puppet stage. The Salvation Army shelter of Act II is staged on a landing above the lobby, and for Undershaft's munitions of Act III, the audience is requested to return to a much-transformed theater space of the first act.

George Bernard Shaw described how he approached his craft as taking "the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say and then to say it with the utmost levity." There are laughs to be had here, but in trying to achieve the theater troup's trademark of "bizarrely intricate modernist productions," a good deal of the playwright's humor and wit has been sacrificed to stylized movement, unusual staging, and strange vocalization.

In the context of the spirit of the production, the actors do a fine job--with particularly good performances by Heidi Schreck (an affecting Barbara), Tina Shepard (a no-nonsense Lady Britomart), Nadia Mahdi (a bully-baffled Bill Walker), Bob Jaffe (a stoically logical Andrew Undershaft), Mike Miklos (a pleasingly pragmatic Alolphus) and Slaney Chadwick Ross (a disarming Jenny Hill).

Overall, this reviewer found some of the unique kabuki-influenced acting, music and vocal tones thought-provoking and Shaw's language-when not being subjugated-as interesting a presentation of ideas as always. But in the final analysis, I guess it really wasn't my cup of…sake.