RSS FeedBarbara Makes Major Splash
I purposely didn’t read too much about George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara before settling into my seat at the Shakespeare Theater’s Harman Hall early last week. I like to see if I can be surprised by the twists, turns and especially the ending of any dramatic production. And indeed I was well rewarded.
The Major in Major Barbara refers to Barbara Undershaft’s (on the left in the photo) being a ranking member of the Salvation Army at a London shelter as well as the daughter of a wealthy, successful arms manufacturer, Andrew Undershaft (on the right in the photo). We presume she really doesn’t need to work at the Salvation Army but we do sense the empowerment brought on by her principles and passions to help the poor. And there lies the main set up for the tensions explored by the play – the principled versus the practical, the rich versus the poor and the single versus the married all cast against the backdrop of turn of the century English Society, 1905 with a capital S. An array of Undershaft family characters and Salvation Army shelter inhabitants feature in the production’s swirl providing opportunities for conflict, question and sometimes resolution.
I am a sucker for period pieces and the acting was spirited, the sets inspiring and the dress and language true to the time. Ultimately, Major Barbara chooses to…well…you can always look it up on the Internet or better yet…find out for yourself in person how she surprises the audience in the last scene of the last act of the play. I never saw it coming.
Major Barbara is at Harman Hall (610 F Street, NW) and it runs until March 23, 2008.
Vivienne Benesch as Barbara Undershaft and Ted van Griethuysen as Andrew Undershaft in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara,” directed by Ethan McSweeny. Photo by Scott Suchman.
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Comments
Thanks for the report, I have tickets for next week. I’m looking forward to seeing Major Barbara even more now.
Columbo — the Reduced Shakespeare Theater Company is always. I saw Complete History of America (Abridged) a couple of years ago at teh Kennedy Center.
Two suggestions:
1. Don’t be late unless you want to be part of the show.
2. Have in mind a question that you’d like to ask the president (or maybe the candidates).
Have fun.
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Must…not…look up…spoilers…
I just bought tickets for the Complete History of America (Abridged), now you’re making me wish I’d opted for Mjr Barbara instead!