The Arsonists
If you are an aficionado of “Absurdist Theatre,” this is for you! With a chorus like zany, “Key Stone Kops,” only dressed in yellow slicks and toy fire hats, carrying ladders, hoses and whistles, running on and off stage not only to put out fires, but to make commentary and help guide the direction of our thoughts, we immediately sense the irony and comedy for which this brilliant cast is striving.
The Arsonist, written by Max Frisch and newly translation by Alistair Beaton, can easily stand beside any of Ionesco’s or Becket’s. It is about how, due to fear and passivity, people can ignore and avoid confrontation with danger and evil, allowing these threats to overwhelm all those around them, and finally themselves. Although generally thought to be inspired by the rampant cases of denial, accommodation and even collaboration during the Nazi era, it is actually more universal in nature, easily applicable to our own sense of helplessness in our modern travails. Every day we become more aware of the evils caused by NAFTA, the use of rendition and the suspensions of the Magna Carta, the new anti-immigrant law in Arizona, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the threat of more nuclear reactors, our penal system, the real estate collapse, the bank failures, and a slue of other realities we live with on a daily bases. Still, we don’t often have the time, energy, or moral outrage to tackle or evaluate them fully.
Didactic in nature, this play wouldn’t make it without the incredible cast assembled by veteran and fearless director, Ron Sossi. One can’t take one’s eyes off of John Achorn (Schmitz), somehow still lovable in his disgusting turpitude, a homeless orphan playing the guilt card for handouts; Beth Hogan (Chorus/Babette), an actresswho never seems to age, full of energy and vivacity as she plays the fluttering wife, a people pleaser unable to get rid of her unwelcome guests or motivate her husband to do so; Norbert Weisser (Gottlieb Biedermann), the husband and protagonist, determined to persist in denial even to his own demise. I do wish, however, that Mr. Weisser, although brilliant, might add a few new notes to his performance as the play progresses and maintain his humanity, particularly in the second act, thus enabling greater identity and pathos. People in such denial are often drastically bent out of shape in one way or another. More is required of him in his last moments as he sits reading the newspaper, his house burning down around him; at least according to this reviewer.
Ron Bottitta (Eisenring), makes a great “bad guy.” Alan Abelew, Adam Blumenthal, Diana Cignoni, Chantal DeGroat, Eric Losoya, and Cary Thompson are all excellent. The pace and imagination of the staging keeps the story moving along nicely, and although at moments the play may appear a bit too obvious and old hat, the imagination and vitality of the performances keep us engaged.
The two story set by Birgitte Moos is a pleasure to behold; costumes by Kathryn Poppen are provocative and apt.
ODYSSEY THEATRE
2055 So. Sepulveda Blvd
West Los Angeles, Ca. 900025
(310) 477-2055
April 3 through May 23, 2010