‘Arms and the Man’

Shakespeare ’70 offers a charming revival of George Bernard Shaw’s anti-war play.

By: Stuart Duncan
   Arms and the Man is one of George Bernard Shaw’s earliest plays (1898) and one of his best titled. The phrase, of course, comes from the opening line of Virgil’s masterpiece Aeneid: "Of arms and the man I sing." Shaw uses the phrase as an anti-war thrust, mocking the romantic concepts of war and its warriors.
   At the same time, the work is sentimental enough to have fostered an operetta, The Chocolate Soldier, but still retain some of Shaw’s celebrated verbal barbs.
   The show is being given a charming revival by Shakespeare ’70 at its winter home in the Studio Theater on the campus of The College of New Jersey in Ewing.
   Shaw sets the comedy in Bulgaria, specifically in the home of Maj. Petkoff and his wife, Catherine (Tom Moffit and Carol Kehoe, a pair of Shakespeare ’70 veterans who fit into their roles like a pair of old shoes). The home is called "the finest in all Bulgaria." Why it even "has a library," and before the evening is over, even an electric bell.
   As the curtain rises, the major is off fighting with the Russians against the Serbs. That leaves Catherine with their daughter, Raina (TCNJ senior Elizabeth Livingston), plus the servants Louka and her fiancé Nicola (Janet Quartarone and Dale Simon) to deal with an escaping Serb soldier when he climbs the balcony to Raina’s bedroom.
   The soldier, Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary and captain (Kurt Penney), is more tired than afraid, courteous to a fault but ready to climb under the covers and sleep rather than fight. Mother and daughter help him evade capture and send him off in the morning with Maj. Petkoff’s overcoat (and an incriminating picture of Raina, autographed yet, in the pocket).
   John Erath has directed with a nice attention to pace and focused on the playwright’s intriguing twists and turns of dialogue.
   Not all of the casting works as well as it might. In particular, Ms. Quartarone, as Louka, is a generation too old for the role. The same for Kyle Tinnes as Raina’s fiancé, Sergius. They handle the roles with great style, but in this case age does not have its compensations.
   Dale Simon’s set is both exquisite and ingeniously built to handle two different locations within the house. Gale Erath’s costuming is both pretty and authentic.
   Next for Shakespeare ’70 is the annual opening of Open Air Theatre in Washington Crossing Park in June, this year with Richard III.
Arms and the Man continues at the Studio Theater, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, through March 2. Performances: Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $12, students $6. For information, call (609) 882-5979. On the Web: www.shakespeare70.org