The world premiere of Uncivil Wars: Moving with Bretch and Eisler at the Walker Art Center McGuire Theater in Minneapolis was Gordon's new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's 1936 play, Round Heads and Pointed Heads. The satire about a fictitious country called Yahoo pins the citizens with round heads against the people with pointed heads in order for rulers to maintain their control over the land.
Gordon sprinkled the script with excerpts from Brecht's theatrical theories and portrayed the theories in this Pick Up Performance Co. Inc. production. Longtime British actor, dancer, Gordon's wife and creative partner, Valda Setterfield, played Brecht and served as narrator along with pianist Hanns Eisler played by Gina Leishman.
Each actor in the eight person ensemble performed multiple parts, which they introduced in the opening scene, in accordance with Brecht's theatrical ideals. In addition, they wore simple, black jump suits and utilized a plain set with basic pieces such as tables, chairs and ladders, in complete Brechtian style.
Surprised by the professional company's line slips, Gordon reassured the audience it was a "stylistic choice" during the talk back. Like Brecht, he did not want his actors to be perfectly memorized because he wanted to remind the audience that the actors are merely representations of the characters.
Although the lines were not memorized word for word, the ensemble had precise and clean transitions between all of the scenes and songs showing they worked well together.
As a whole, the cast was strong, but John Kelly and Charlotte Cohn clearly shone out above the rest. Kelly's portrayal of the female Madame and Mother Superior characters was spot on with perfect comedic timing as well as a vibrant energy and an understanding of the text that made his characters hilariously unforgettable.
Both Kelly and Cohn lead the company in the vocal performances as well. Cohn's melodic voice surpassed all the other in beauty and even coaxed the audience to sing along during a song.
Setterfield's years of experience and extensive resume did not prove evident in her bland performance of the legendary playwright Brecht. While her powerful voice was very articulate, her characterization lacked any luster in comparison to Kelly and Cohn, and her moments felt dull and dry.
Leishman's extreme musical ability to play four different instruments, some simultaneously, made up for her dearth of acting talent.
Running 90 minutes without an intermission, the 11 scenes moved along rapidly until the final scene. The large chorus joined in a tad-too-long, choreographed stomp routine which seemed to be ill-fitting with the rest of the production and lead to an unclear ending.
The 25 person chorus served little purpose in the production. For 75 of the 90 minutes, they sat in folding chairs in the background and contributed nothing to the performance. Finally, the lengthy series of stomps and claps left the audience bored and confused. With only five rehearsals to learn the routine, some members took a few missteps and could be seen counting the number of steps aloud, making the audience unable to concentrate on the changes in rhythm.
Uncivil Wars ran March 12-14 at 8p.m. For more information visit the Walker Art Center.
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