It can be hard to define exactly which elements of a production work and which don't, but at the end of the day, so much responsibility for a performance's success rests with the cast. So, take a classic comedy, add a solid lineup of talented actors, and there you have Dartmouth's excellent Winter term Mainstage production, George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man."
"Arms," which opened Thursday night at the Moore Theater and will run until Saturday, Feb. 24, is set in Bulgaria at the end of the 19th century, just as the country's war with Serbia is drawing to a close. Although the play is a comedy, the war provides quite a serious backdrop to the farcical events of the play. Much of what is most compelling about "Arms" lies in the disconnect between the characters' ideas about glory and honor and the realities of who they are and what they really want for themselves.
The top-notch cast features Francesca Finch Bochner '10 as young, idealistic Raina Petkoff and Lily King '07 and Preston Copley '07 as her wealthy, silly parents. David Mavricos '10 stands out as Raina's cocky but nearly incompetent fiance, Major Sergius Saranoff. Mavricos' physical humor is priceless -- every step he takes oozes smarmy self-confidence, and he plays Sergius to arrogant perfection. Victoria Toumanoff '09 is also excellent as the saucy Louka, a servant in the Petkoffs' household who is unhappily engaged to Nicola, another servant played by Casey Ley '07. Though Louka is rebellious and unafraid to speak her mind, we get a look at her softer side when she begins to fall for Sergius, despite the seeming impossibility of such a democratic romance.
Jacob Crumbine '07 plays Captain Bluntschli, the Swiss soldier fighting for Serbia who steals Raina's heart. From the moment he enters Raina's room after climbing from the street to her balcony window to avoid being shot at, Crumbine's stellar comedic timing keeps the laughs coming throughout the play. Even when alone on the stage, Crumbine's Bluntschli is more than entertaining enough to hold the audience's attention.
The first act of "Arms" finds Raina saving Bluntschli from capture after he sneaks into her room, while in the second, Raina and her mother scramble to keep the incident a secret from Raina's father, who, along with Sergius, has just returned from the war. Unfortunately, Bluntschli picks just the wrong time to drop by to return a favorite coat of Petkoff's lent him by Raina and her mother. Petkoff and Sergius are only too happy to welcome him into their home. Many ironic and cringe-inducing moments follow.
As Raina and Bluntschli continue to develop feelings for one another, Sergius and Louka -- who knows a lot more than the Petkoffs think she does about Raina and Bluntschli's first encounter -- also strike up the beginnings of a romance. If all this sounds ludicrously contrived and silly, perhaps it is. But the cast pulls it off, and Shaw's witty dialogue remains funny and fresh, even in the 21st century.
It's Nicola, the servant who just can't convince Louka that she'll be happy as his wife, who never springs to life quite as fully as the other characters do. Though he figures in one or two nice comic scenes, that's about as much as can be said about his presence in the play. Still, his dullness only makes us sympathize with Louka even more -- after all, who would choose dreary Nicola over handsome, complicated Sergius?
The play's third act lags a bit at first, largely because the audience sees much more of the characters talking rather than new comedic developments. Things pick right up again soon enough, right to the play's ending.
Visiting theater professor Georgi Alexi-Meskhishvili's set design is phenomenal. A beautifully done scene change between the first and second acts shows off how easily the stage is transformed: One moment we're in Raina's bedroom, the next we're watching it turn into a pretty garden, with Raina's mother directing servants as they remove and replace furniture and other props.
When a scene change alone draws a round of applause from the audience, it's probably worth checking out the rest of the performance as well.
