Playful, witty, hilarious, a fantastic take on a Shaw classic.
A romantic comedy set in three acts, Arms and the Man is nothing short of hilarious. The first London revival of the play in forty years, it is a fantastic choice for Paul Miller’s final production as Artistic Director of Orange Tree Theatre and concludes a successful run of Shaw’s classics. Widely considered as the play which made a name for writer Bernard Shaw back in 1884, it has certainly aged well. The two hour thirty minute running time might seem a little intimidating at first, but when entertained with such witty comedy as this time flies. I genuinely feel I could have sat there and watched for longer.
The play begins in the bedroom of Raina Petkoff, a young romantically-minded lady who is desperate for news of her father and fiance, both fighting in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Rebecca Collingwood’s vibrant performance captures the excitable energy and innocence of youth. A fugitive (Alex Waldmann) from the enemy ranks climbs in through her window to escape capture, and the two engage in some witty back-and-forth. We see Raina as a young lady, clearly clever, but with a sense of warped heroic superiority, eager to defend her beloved. She then takes it upon herself to feed the starving soldier chocolate-creams and hide him from discovery. Raina goes to wake her mother, leaving the soldier behind. Alone on stage, Waldmann holds the audience, his detailed performance exudes exhaustion, and his battle between sleep and consciousness tells the audience a vivid story of his own experiences leading up to this moment – the unseen events of the battlefield.
Raina wakes her mother (Miranda Foster), and together they agree to send him safely on his way in the morning.
The second act begins once the war is over, with servants Louka (Kemi Awoderu) and Nicola (Jonah Russell) discussing their relationship and apparent impending marriage. Here we glimpse of a sort of Downton-Abbey-esque upstairs/downstairs story, and it is later revealed how interwoven the lives of the servants and the household really are. Awoderu and Russell play more steady, subtle roles, a little less melodramatic than their fellow cast, though just as detailed, perhaps more fitting of the social status of their characters in this context.
Raina’s father, Major Paul Petkoff (Jonathan Tafler) soon returns, followed not so long after by Sergius (Alex Bhat), Raina’s fiance, the image of a perfect hero. Bhat’s performance from the off is fantastically flamboyant, entering with such vigour that the audience are immediately in fits of laughter. From this moment the entire cast seemed to up their energy, bouncing off each other. They truly made acting look fun.
Later in the act the play becomes almost farcical when Raina’s chocolate-cream soldier comes to return the coat he escaped in, and we learn that he is no other than Captain Bluntschli (Alex Waldmann) whom the other two soldiers have already met during troop exchanges. Waldmann plays Bluntschli as a far more sensible character in contrast to the others on stage, emphasising not only the absurdity of the situation, but the ridiculousness of the other characters themselves.
In the final act Bluntschli, having been convinced to stay on at the Pentkoff’s house for a time, is helping the Major and Surgius with some military matters. The drama builds as relationships between the characters are revealed, and comes to a climax as Petkoff discovers the truth of the matters between Bluntchli and his daughter, and Louka and Sergius.
The Orange Tree is the perfect venue for this play, with the round lending itself to the intimacy of the action in the scenes. For each act we are presented with three clear sets which neatly and effectively compliment the story. There is no over-dressing, what Simon Daw’s design presents us with is just right to build the world of the play, and is well accompanied by Mark Doubleday’s lighting design.
Melodrama is a difficult style to pull off, and so often can either be too much, or fall completely flat. But what the actors in this production give us is a fine lesson in what the style can be when executed brilliantly. The performances are playful, witty, and expansive while retaining a certain element of nuance. The style is fitting for the satirical production which mocks the romantic ideas concerning war and heroism. Having never seen or read a Shaw play before, I found this to be the perfect introduction – it has left me wanting more.