[caption id="attachment_71474" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Margaret Loesser Robinson (Violet), Janie Brookshire (Ann/Ana) and Laurie Kennedy (Mrs. Whitefield) in “Man and Superman.” "]
Man and Superman * By George Bernard Shaw * Directed by David Staller * Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd St., NYC * Through June 17
In 1905, when George Bernard Shaw wrote “Man and Superman,” he created an ongoing problem for producers attempting to stage the play. Taken by themselves, acts one, two and four, as a unit, are genuinely funny and fairly straightforward.
The third act, a dream sequence, is an extravagant meditation on the play’s theme, which might best be described as a ferocious adherence to the “Life Force.” That, however, is partly where the trouble lies.
Brilliantly written, act three is completely detachable from the rest of the play. Because of this aspect, it has almost always been omitted in production and what’s more, it has often been staged as a theatrical production by itself. Along the way, it developed its own title, “Don Juan in Hell,” which is mainly how it is known by the general public.
A few decades ago, a clever producer created what he called the First Drama Quartet, hired a succession of name actors, and sent a modestly produced version of “Don Juan in Hell” out on the theatrical road for several seasons running.
Now, the Irish Repertory Theatre, working for the first time in partnership with another producer, in this case the Gingold Theatrical Group, has come up with a new production of “Man and Superman,” with David Staller, Gingold’s founder and artistic director, directing.
The production, which will run through June 17, is rather coyly set in “The Present, 1905.” Scene I of Act 11 takes place in “Hell,” which, of course, suggests that that’s where “Don Juan in Hell” has been placed.
Gracefully playable as the material is, the situation is still rather awkward, mainly because playing the major portions of both plays requires considerable editing. The current production runs exactly three hours, with one brief intermission.
With director Staller’s obvious sense of pacing and feeling for the material, the production comes off as one of the cleanest and clearest Irish Rep shows in a long while.
The cast, for the most part, is first rate, headed as it is by the unfailing Brian Murray as an opinionated gentleman named Roebuck Ramsden. For the hour that “Don Juan in Hell” takes stage, he is Dona Ana’s father, the Commandant, back from heaven for a brief but sparkling visit.
“Don Juan in Hell” uses just four of the actors from “Man and Superman.” Dona Ana, who is Ann Whitefield; the romantic Jew, Mendoza, who is the Devil; the Commandant, who is Ann’s father; and, of course, Jack Tanner, who is Don Juan.
Other standouts in Staller’s cast include Janie Brookshire as Ann, Max Gordon Moore as Jack, Jonathan Hammond as Mendoza, Margaret Loesser Robinson as Violet, Laurie Kennedy as Mrs. Whitefield, Paul O’Brien as Malone, Zachary Spicer as his son, Hector, and Will Bradley as Jack’s loyal friend, Octavius.
Tanner, whom Ann, a.k.a. Ana, wishes to marry at any cost, becomes his own legendary ancestor, Don Juan. Tanner and Mendoza, the Devil, discuss the meaning of heaven and hell, love and marriage, not to mention good and evil.
Tanner is bored in hell, where he has mostly the same satisfactions he knew on earth. As Don Juan, he dedicates himself more than ever to the Life Force, which he feels operates through women, trapping men into marriage.
But all such unions tend ultimately toward producing a truly superior being, a process which Shaw referred to as “creative evolution.”
The major point of the play is that Ann, knowing that her highest mission is to help create this “superman.”
In the end, Dona Ana decides to follow Don Juan to heaven.
“Don Juan in Hell,” sometimes known as the “interior play,” doesn’t fare all that well in this otherwise excellent production. James Noone’s handsome scenic design draws an anonymous curtain across the set and presents chairs for the four speakers to occupy during “Don Juan in Hell.”
It really isn’t a very satisfactory solution to the play’s enduring problem. It seems possible that they might have done at least a little bit better.
