A CALL TO SEE THIS FINE `ARMS AND THE MAN'.Byline: - Evan Henerson The ``Chocolate Cream Soldier'' always hits his mark. So does his creator, George Bernard Shaw Multiple people share the name Bernard Shaw:
Just as dead-eyed accurate is the work of A Noise Within, which offers a bonbon of a rendering of ``Arms and the Man Arms and the Man satirizes romantic view of war. [Br. Lit.: Arms and the Man] See : Antimilitarism ,'' Shaw's 1894 rumination rumination /ru·mi·na·tion/ (roo?mi-na´shun) 1. the casting up of the food to be chewed thoroughly a second time, as in cattle. 2. on soldiering, romance and their points of intersection. The play is a chocolate-cream feast for the actors playing military men Capt. Bluntschli and Major Sergius Saranoff, and in Mikael Salazar and Mark Deakins, director Michael Murray Michael Murray may refer to several people:
Truly, from the sartorial sar·to·ri·al adj. Of or relating to a tailor, tailoring, or tailored clothing: sartorial elegance. [From Late Latin sartor, tailor; see sartorius. detail in Julie Keen's pitch-perfect costumes to the wax flourish of Deakins' mustache, Murray's production has barely a hair out of place. The play is set at the turn of the last century, before World War I. Skirmishes between the Serbs and the Bulgarians are on their final embers em·ber n. 1. A small, glowing piece of coal or wood, as in a dying fire. 2. embers The smoldering coal or ash of a dying fire. as a Swiss mercenary (played by Salazar) fighting with the Serbs scurries up a drainpipe into the bedroom of Raina Petkoff (Harahan), the well-heeled daughter of one Bulgarian major (Mark Bramhall) and fiancee of a second (Deakins). Intrigued by the tired and unsoldierly Adj. 1. unsoldierly - not conforming to military standards; "unsoldierly posture" nonmilitary, unmilitary - not associated with soldiers or the military; "unmilitary circles of government"; "fatigue duty involves nonmilitary labor" officer who carries chocolate candy instead of ammunition, Raina and her mother (Karen Tarleton) shelter their Chocolate Cream Soldier for the evening and send him off to safety the following day. Shortly thereafter, when peace is re-established, Capt. Bluntschli returns to the Petkoff house, proving himself to be a man of considerable military acumen after all, if not quite as astute in the ways of love. Salazar's boyish Bluntschli has deadpan Shavian wit even as the character is practically asleep on his feet. Knowing but never cocky, Salazar proves the perfect foil to the smoke and bluster of Deakins' Saranoff, a man who has no business in uniform, but who proves to be mightily attractive nonetheless. Smoothly linking the production and ensuring the romantic stakes remain high is Harahan. Her Raina is no simpering sim·per v. sim·pered, sim·per·ing, sim·pers v.intr. To smile in a silly, self-conscious, often coy manner. v.tr. twit, but rather someone who has used wiles wile n. 1. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare. 2. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure: the wiles of a skilled negotiator. 3. Trickery; cunning. for so long, she knows no other course of action. As the scales fall from Raina's eyes regarding the true nature of combat, heroism and fidelity, Harahan positively blossoms with the discovery. Their wartime successes notwithstanding, Shaw's characters meet the ``I'm a lover, not a fighter'' criterion. As a comic love story about people (barely) at war, ``Arms'' is a witty masterpiece. Murray and his cast give the proceedings plenty of firepower, chocolate cream-fueled or otherwise. ARMS AND THE MAN - Three and one half stars Where: A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through May 20. Plays in rotating repertory. Please call for exact show days and times. Tickets: $32 to $36. (818) 240-0910, Ext. 1. In a nutshell: In Shaw's landscape, wit is far more effective than bullets. |
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