George Bernard Shaw was ever a warrior against the romantic notions and hypocrisies that bring woe to both individuals and nations. In "Arms and the Man," currently playing at Taproot Theatre, he makes his case with humor and irony.
It's 1895. A war between Serbia and Bul-garia is in its final throes, and in the Bul-garian home of Major Petkoff, pampered daughter Raina is warned to lock her shut-ters against intrusion by enemy soldiers who are fighting in nearby streets. Convinced her glorious army would never allow such an impertinence, she disregards the admonition and soon finds a member of the enemy forces within her boudoir.
Her initial fright is replaced by compassion. Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss national who is a professional solder fighting for Serbia, convinces her that he will be brutally killed if he makes any attempt to leave. He appears to be a gentleman, yet much to her astonishment he is less taken with the romance of war than she. He knows soldiers, and knows they just want to get home alive.
She brags about her fiancé who epitomizes the military ardor she respects. But Bluntschli reports that her Sergius is an incompetent. His troops would have been slaughtered because of his misguided com-mand, had the enemy not been sent useless ammunition. Raina refuses to believe Bluntschli, but she agrees to abet his escape.
There follow a series of romantic fits and starts, a threatened duel, innumerable deceptions, lusty advances and some satisfying surprises, all of which build to a happy ending. In the process Shaw manages to skewer the concept of the romance of war. He also makes clear that our romantic views and self-deceptions about society and even love are ill founded. Our mistake is to build our institutions on ideals that are illusions.
These moral lessons are clothed in broad humor. Shaw wrote it so, and director Karen Lund reinforces the fun. Although one of the characters notes that "life isn't a farce," Lund made the decision to stage this production with the exaggerated gestures so often found in farce.
The play was written with many of the characteristics of farce, but often isn't presented as such. Lund's straightforward farcical treatment works very well. Shaw's sense of rhythm and structure can sometimes sound antiquated to contemporary ears. By encouraging her actors to articulate their parts with an extravagance of ges-ture and word, Lund heightens the humor and allows the play to speak more directly to contemporary audiences.
Kelly Balch gives Raina just the right mix of naïveté and hauteur. She's marvelous in her pomposity about her elevated position and that of her family. And of course, we know that Shaw is painting these Bulgarians as pretentious country bumpkins.
Timothy Hornor as the pragmat-ic soldier Bluntschli who would rather eat chocolate bon bons than fire bullets is a dashing and sophis-ticated romantic lead. No romantic illusions for him, yet he can't ignore the charm of the dreamy Raina, and of course is ready to woo her when the time comes.
Pam Nolte as Raina's mother is just right as the flustered, naïve, overprotective parent. When Tap-root first mounted this production 25 years ago, she played Raina.
Brooke Hill and Steve Manning have all the wile required of servants and peasants; both wind up ahead in this game. Nolan Palm-er, the romantic lead in the original Taproot production, makes a properly pompous father. Jason Adkins is good as the incredibly inept but self-satisfied Sergius
Scenic designer Mark Lund has created an ingenious single set that can be transformed easily and in full sight of the audience into three quite separate venues. All this is achieved with minimal props and backdrops.
For a low-budget theater, Taproot manages to provide its productions with opulent costumes. "Arms" opens with Raina garbed in a long, gold brocade, tight-waisted robe trimmed in maroon velvet. It's stunning, and only the first of many lovely things she wears. The peasant costumes of the servants consist of layer upon layer of colorful embroidered fabrics. Even the uniforms of the military officers are eye-catching with their gold braid, high boots and smart tailoring. Credit for all this goes to Carisa Bush.
It has been said of Shaw that he is a writer of comedy with a tragic cry in his soul. You'll find plenty of his humor in this play together with a strong statement about the folly of extreme patriotic fervor and social pretension. Funny how modern that message seems to be.
"Arms and the Man" runs Wednes-days-Saturdays through Oct. 21. Taproot Theatre is at 204 N. 85 St. Tickets from $15 to $30. 781-9707 (Taproot Box Office) or ticketmaster.com
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