Candida
It’s always wonderful to have a chance to revisit the acerbic wit of George Bernard Shaw, a wordsmith whose career extended well into the first half of the 20th century. His topical “Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant” seems every bit as relevant today as they did originally. Unfortunately, his plays are less often performed owing to their length and Shaw’s propensity to use 10 words when one would do.
For his 1897 comedy, Candida, at Burbank’s Colony Theatre, extra verbiage has been stripped away; leaving a little less than the bare bones of Shaw’s fetching play. Oh, the main characters are still there, and so is Shaw’s wit. However, this production has missed Shaw’s point in favor of an acting tour de force that irrevocably skews the play and his message.
Candida was written at a time when women did not have the vote and were generally considered to be either charming accoutrements or housekeeping drudges, depending upon one’s social circumstances. Shaw centers his play around a charmer: Candida (Willow Geer), is an efficient vicar’s wife whose stuffy Christian-socialist husband, Pastor Morell (Mark Deakins) feels threatened by Marchbanks (Jonathan McClain), a rich, romantic poet desperately in love with his wife.
The minister’s misanthropic solution to the potential ménage à trois pokes fun at purely socialist solutions. He proposes to “auction” off his wife to whichever man is most in need of her. With Shaw’s characteristic emphasis on the problem, the playwright foregrounds the assumptions made in the fight between the two men for Candida’s affections. But in the climactic “auction” scene, Candida points out that she really is her own person and she’ll make her own decisions, thank you.
However, in visiting director, Kathleen F. Conlin’s version, the triangle is off-set by the antics of her Marchbanks. Jonathan McClain plays the young poet as an inept oaf to such a point that the play begins to look less like a witty comedy of manners and more like a Victorian version of The Nerd. McClain is enormously talented; but his antics obscure the symmetry of Shaw’s writing.
Conlin’s casting choices pose further challenges. Mark Deakins struggles with the comedic situation, while Kate Hollingshead as his secretary, “Prossy,” meant to be a plain Jane hopelessly infatuated with the pastor, performs with uncharacteristic confidence. Willow Geer, as Candida, though, projects translucent beauty, performing with just the right amount of amused clarity.
The look of the show harks back to the gay eighteen-ninties, both accurately researched and inventively presented. The solid- looking study is actually designed by Michael C. Smith is three free-standing sections; Donna Ruzika’s lighting is just right. Sherry Linnell’s costumes are stunning, while the wigs and hair-styles by Joni Rudesill are perfect for the occasion. Sound by Drew Dalzell provides appropriate counterpoints, while the properties from MacAndME are, as always, traditionally detailed.
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Theater: The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street, Burbank, CA
Web Site: http://www.colonytheatre.org
Tickets: (818) 558-7000, ext. 15
Dates: through Sunday, March 8, 2009