Shaw shanked without redemption

George Bernard Shaw was rolling over in his grave last Saturday night as his play Arms and the Man was being performed at the Prospect Theater Project in Modesto. This work of Shaw's, which satirizes naive and idealistic notions of love and wartime heroism, is quite dynamic, interesting, and engaging.if it is done right. Unfortunately, Heike Hambley's production missed the mark in every way.

I was on the edge of my seat through the entire performance for all of the wrong reasons. I kept hoping and praying for a redeeming aspect of the production that never came. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a difficult audience member to please. The goal in the theatre is to get the audience members to willingly suspend their disbelief. This is quite difficult for some people; they just cannot seem to let themselves get emotionally involved in a show. I am not one of those people. On the contrary, I enjoy believing what is happening on stage and that is usually quite an easy task. It takes quite a bit to turn me off to a show, but this production succeeded.

To say that the technical aspects of this production were disappointing would be an understatement. Granted, the Prospect Theater is a very tiny space and that in itself presents complication. This having been said, all of the designers involved in this production failed to acknowledge that fact and design accordingly. When the audience member farthest from your stage is only ten feet away, attention to detail is crucial. The floor of the set appeared to be linoleum, and it had faux grout lines poorly painted on it and what appeared to be a small, raised, hardwood dance floor in the middle.

I kept waiting for the hardwood area to be utilized in some way that would provide logic for this admittedly distracting choice, but it never happened. Other off-putting set choices (or non-choices) included mismatched rugs that dropped down over steps leading to the stage, a large square of Astroturf, very cheap-looking fake foliage, exposed electrical cords, and a fireplace with no back that you looked straight through.

The sound effects in the show were very poorly edited. Gunshots would sometimes stop mid-bang, and the sound levels would fluctuate from much too soft to quite loud.

Heike Hambley, Renata Bricks, and Raven Elizabeth all teamed up to design the costumes for this production, and the lack of a coherent and cohesive theme was painfully evident. This play takes place in Bulgaria in November and March. The average daily temperature in Bulgaria at these times of year is around 15 degrees Celsius. Why, then, was the main character outside in a short sleeved, low-cut dress when everyone else in the cast was in long-sleeved garments?

Furthermore, the Petkoff family (which the play centers around) is the richest family in Bulgaria, and Mrs. Petkoff wears and apron, just like her maid. None of the costumes appeared to have been steamed or ironed, some did not fit, a few had significant stains or snags, and several were visibly ill-constructed or tailored. Speaking as someone with significant amount of experience working as a costumer, there is no excuse for those kinds of costume flaws. They are easy to fix if someone puts in the time and effort to care for the costumes.

Director Heike Hambley did her actors a great disservice in this production. The actors in this production made many poor choices, choices which the director should have seen and corrected. Every single actor in the show talked into a wall at some point. Frequently actors would be having a conversation and would turn away from one another for no apparent reason to say their lines facing out into space.

Raven Elizabeth, playing Raina Petkoff, consistently reacted to things before they happened. Though not the only, she was the most severe over-actor. She also smiled at many unsuitable moments. At one point in the show she smiled as another character harshly criticized her fiancé the moment she started her line she became instantly enraged at what he had said. It was quite clear that she was not listening at all to what was being said to her.

She was not the only culprit. Save Traci Sprague and David Narbona (playing Nicola and Louka), I did not believe a word that anyone said throughout the entire performance. It was quite obvious that none of the actors believed what they were saying either. There were a few moments when Nicola and Louka had scenes together, and those were the only decent moments in the play. My only complaint about the two of them is that I did not see enough of them. My condolences go out to both of you; your performances far outshined those of your fellow cast members.

Accents as well as the characters' personality traits came and went at random. Often when an actor fumbles or misspeaks a line, no one notices, but Raven, David Hambley, Elda Coleman, and David Braga each made glaring line errors that halted the action of the play. Elda Coleman was clearly uncomfortable in her own body and had no idea what to do with her hands. Several times I thought she may be breaking into an interpretive dance.

This production of Arms and the Man, which runs through December 13th, received a 3 star review (out of a possible 4 stars) from the Modesto Bee. The review said it was, "By far the most enjoyable piece the Modesto company has presented in a long time." If that is true, I am glad that I have not seen another show there recently.

I love almost any piece of theatre, but this show was painful to watch. Though I hate to discourage theatre attendance, I cannot recommend this show to anyone except theatre students looking for examples of what not to do.