Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Romantic comedies with intellect: Sparkling revivals of Elizabeth Baker’s PARTNERSHIP and George Bernard Shaw’s ARMS AND THE MAN

• By drediman
• November 17, 2023
• No Comments

This past week at Theatre Row, I had the opportunity to catch up with two sparkling Off-Broadway revivals of plays – both romantic comedies – written circa the turn of the 20th century. Unlike most frivolous contemporary examples of the popular genre, both exuded considerable intellect as they navigated love between the sexes. As always, here are my thoughts.

ARMS AND THE MAN
Gingold Theatrical Group at Theatre Row
Through November 18

When it comes to performing the plays of George Bernard Shaw, the folks at Gingold Theatrical Group know what they’re doing, as evidenced by their strong track record of solid and entertaining revivals over the years. Indeed, as Shaw specialists (particularly artistic director and co-founder David Staller), the company knows exactly how to breathe vibrant life into the British playwright’s works, which have – not without warrant – gotten the reputation for being intellectually rigorous yet a bit of a bore. Thankfully, Gingold has worked its magic once again on Shaw’s early-career Arms and the Man (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (the Off-Broadway revival concludes its run at Theatre Row this weekend). Set in an aristocratic household in 1880s wartime Bulgaria, the play depicts a web of romantic entanglements across class lines. With his typical wicked wit and penetrating insights, Shaw dissects and untangles the situation with both mirth and incisiveness. The cast of seven (which includes such venerable stage veterans as Karen Ziemba, Ben Davis, and Thomas Jay Ryan) is top drawer, playing the comedy to the hilt, all the while being in on the playwright’s joke and even occasionally breaking the fourth wall to amusing effect. As per usual, Staller directs with his trademark zing – almost to the point of irreverence – thoroughly dusting the cobwebs from the text for satisfying modern day consumption.

PARTNERSHIP
Mint Theater Company at Theatre Row
Closed

As with Gingold Theatrical Group’s mastery of Shaw, Mint Theater Company is undoubtedly New York’s premiere theater company when it comes to retrieving forgotten plays of the past and remounting them with care and intelligence. In recent years, Mint has championed the works of playwright Elizabeth Baker, whose play Partnership (RECOMMENDED) enjoyed a rare revival at Theatre Row this fall (the production concluded its limited Off-Broadway run last weekend). In short, how lucky are we to have this and other of the playwright’s works – I had also seen Mint’s production of her Chains (2022) and The Price of Thomas Scott (2019) – be rescued from the clutches of forgotten history. Like Shaw, Baker writes plays with a thesis in mind to prove, which works beautifully in the classic three-act structure. Even if her plays lack the relentless intellectual rigor of Shaw’s works, they nonetheless make astute, still-valid observations about societal constructs that are worth learning from. As if ahead of her time, Baker in Partnership explores the notion of work-life balance, making a case for day-to-day happiness over the monetary benefits of working oneself to the bone. The play has been elegantly directed by Jackson Grace Gay, who with his resourceful and talented design team have worked wonders with a limited budget. Even if much of the acting by the cast is solidly the by-the-books, the end result is still a convincing, handsomely-mounted production of a long lost play worth keeping tabs on from now on.