Wednesday, November 12, 1997
‘He Who Gets Slapped’ also gets claps for some aspects
THEATER Though odd, seedy, allegorical drama proves to be
intriguing
By Michael Gillette
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Singular Productions repertory company has offered up an
intriguing piece of theater with its new translation of Russian
playwright Leonid Andreyev’s turn of the century work "He Who Gets
Slapped."
The play itself, which runs through Dec. 13 at the historic and
surprisingly versatile Ivy Substation Building in Culver City, is
an odd, and at times dreary, allegorical piece about a Christ-like
figure who joins a circus company, dubs himself "He" for the sake
of anonymity.
"He" invents an act in which he postures as a philosopher only
to be slapped by the other clowns (hence the title). "He" arrives
just as Mancini, a roguish, impoverished count is jockeying to
marry his fetching daughter Consuelo to an unsavory millionaire who
performs the waltz on horseback for the company. Matters are
complicated by Consuelo’s attraction to her strapping, penniless
trainer Benzano, and the fact that "He" himself is attracted to
Consuelo.
No complaints here. The play goes astray, however, in its gloomy
forays into what one might call mythic questioning. Specifically,
the labored passages in which Zenata the sadistic lion tamer seeks
to prove that her lions love her, and those in which "He" convinces
Consuelo that she and Benzano are actually gods like "He” himself.
These scenes seem to strive for something primal, but come off
merely ponderous, and "heavy" in the way the worst O’Neill or
Strindberg feels heavy.
The production doesn’t transcend these moments, but it certainly
does not become mired in them. Everything about it is fresh and
lively, particularly Michael David Edwards’s performance in the
lead role. Edwards has crafted a portrayal that is both immediate
and mysterious, so that one is captivated and surprised seemingly
at every turn. His prodigious physicality is almost startling and
his comic timing never falters once.
Aside from the regrettably soggy end stretch, the production
itself manages to combine the familiar and the surprising much the
way Edwards does throughout. Director Yury Belov employs the
company’s troupe of clowns in a wonderfully grotesque,
carnivalistic way, having them never drop their personas and
juxtaposing their antics to the seedy drama around them. Each of
the clown actors gives a delightfully absurd turn.
The craftiest non-clown performance comes from Alden Millikan in
the part of Mancini. Yurov and Millikan have found in the part much
more than is evident in the text and turn a moustache-twisting
villain into a sort of luridly assured fop. The energy when he and
Edwards share the stage is palpable.
The production staggers only in its ending, which is operatic in
all the worst ways an ending can be. Otherwise it speaks to all the
strengths the Singular Productions company possesses: strong
performers, boundless energy, and good taste.
THEATER: "He Who Gets Slapped" runs through Dec. 13 at 9070
Washington Blvd., Culver City. For information, call
310-287-3850.