University of Virginia Library

STAGE

Too Much Of A Potentially Good Thing

By Steve Wells
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Lyricist Sheldon Harnick once
observed that "the trouble with
washing garbage is that when you're
done, it's still garbage." It would be
puerile to classify Jean Genet's
"The Balcony," which the Virginia
Players opened on Monday night, as
garbage; but it is a tedious play, and
despite the valiant and admirable
attempts of director Ellen Mease to
give it a sustained theatrical vitality,
it ultimately - and I think
inevitably - constitutes an often
tedious evening.

Perhaps the most damaging
aspect of the enterprise is its
seemingly interminable length. You
literally enter Minor Hall one day
and leave the next. The production
runs a good three and a half hours
with two brief intermissions. The
first set alone lasts one hour and
forty-five minutes, which is
approximately forty minutes after
restlessness sets in.

The Virginia Players In A Scene From Their Current Production Of "The Balcony"

Blow Your Mind

"The Balcony" is a bizarre play
which is likely to blow your mind
in a manner similar, say, to a Fellini
film. For the most part, it takes
place in a brothel, Mme. Irma's
"house of illusions." The clientele -
many of whom could easily pass as
escapees from "Marat/Sade" -
come not merely for sexual
satisfaction, but so they can act out
their dreams, wear the costumes of
their heroes, and try to ignore the
threatening reality of a swelling
revolution outside. But reality
cannot be totally ignored; it
continually disrupts the characters'
illusions, and, as a result, by play's
end, three characters have been
killed, others have been denied the
comfort of their disguises, one has
become hopelessly lost in
self-fantasy, and really only Mme.
Irma is left intact with enough of a
hold on reality to continue
performing her function, providing
refuge for those who need it, even
if that refuge is false.

Genet interweaves several
psychological and philosophical
themes, such as man's need for
illusion to find self-respect and
significance, his quest to supersede
his designated station, and the
interdependence of good and evil.
While much of what he has to say is
not instantly obvious and often is
obscure, "The Balcony" is very
much an intellectual piece, in the
same respect that the plays of
Sartre and Beckett are statements
of philosophy first and stage
dramas second.

And herein lies my argument
against this type of theatre, which I
will reiterate here for about the
fiftieth time. Nobody is questioning
the superior intellectuality of these
authors' works. But I contend that
being a great philosopher, if you
will, and being a great playwright
are two entirely different skills.
There has to be something more
than insights into man to make a
play work. The characters have to
be multi-dimensional and we have
to be able to relate to them as
people and not merely view them as
mouthpieces for the author's
thoughts.

Too many of the characters in
"The Balcony" are one-dimensional
and do not come across as human
beings in whom we can take an
interest. And almost every scene in
the play is overwritten; Genet's
verbosity is intolerable. No matter
how much a playwright has to say,
he has to be economical, his scenes
can't run on endlessly. I think the
audience reaction on Monday night
would have been much more
positive had Genet been more
concise in his writing.

Repetitive In Nature

For example, the first three
scenes, which have a combined
running time of about 55 minutes,
are repetitive in nature: the Bishop,
the Judge, and the General are all,
when you come right down to it,
three facets of the same character,
and such detailed elaboration on
each is not necessary. The play's
potential is greater than its realized
effect simply because most
theatregoers just aren't willing to
plod through so much excess
verbiage to get to the crux of the
play. Indeed, they shouldn't be
asked to.

Given the situation, Miss Mease
should have cut more of the play
than she did. This, however, is the
only complaint I can register
against her handling of "The
Balcony," for otherwise her
direction is imaginative, intelligent,
theatrical, and in parts highly
sensual. The sexual tension which
she conveys in the first five scenes
is one of the evening's strongest
features, providing these scenes
with a thrust which is absent in the
writing, as well as a distinct air of
eroticism.

Use Of Mime

Miss Mease should also be
praised for her use of mime to
accentuate the spoken dialogue.
Not only do the mimes
intermittently performed behind a
screen give added depth to the
script, but they also provide visual
relief in some of the more
loquacious scenes. And, finally,
Miss Mease moves her actors
extremely well - there is a great
deal of physical acting on display
here - and whether doing their
almost choreographed exercises or
playing with sex, there is an
unusual rhythmic grace to many of
the actors' motions.

The intensive training Miss
Mease put her actors through has
paid off with some very fine
performances. Foremost among
these are Paula Johnson's
hard-crusted Irma, Chief Gordon's
stammering Bishop, Ron Reinsel's
fearful Judge, W.A. Williamson's
childish General, and W. Simpers'
well-mannered Court Envoy. Eric
Singerman is satisfactory as the
Chief of Police and Lisi Skeels is
competent enough as Irma's
favorite whore.

Other Three Whores

Of the other prostitutes,
Susan Hardwicke, Lindanne Bethel,
and Cheryl Bradt are three good
reasons for patronizing a brothel.
Kent Beyer handles his two roles
well and, as the two lovers, Charlie
Jarvis performs his chores capably
while Barb Bishop is perhaps the
only weak link in the cast. Oh yes,
and credit J. Craig Johnson with
designing an adaptable and very
serviceable set, and Miss Mease and
the musicians for effectively
underscoring much of the play with
music.

It's a good effort, a talented
effort, and at times it works. But
too often it's a case of trying to
disguise tedium and learning that,
like washing garbage, it really can't
be done.

— Ed.)