Major Barbara, and: The Circle (review)

At a time when many theatre companies are struggling to fill seats, American Players Theatre (APT) consistently attracts large, engaged, loyal audiences to provocative, sometimes unknown plays. In programming both Shaw's Major Barbara and Maugham's The Circle as part of its 2010 season, APT provided an unusual opportunity for its artists and audiences to be challenged by two plays written by authors whose lives overlapped, but whose aesthetics and artistic goals did not. What was it that turned two "wordy" plays devoid of much physical action—one a bit more and one a bit less than a century old—into accessible, exciting, living theatre? The answers help to explain the ongoing success of this Midwestern theatre.

For its 2010 season, APT ran five productions in its outdoor theatre, from June through the first weekend of October, while its indoor theatre housed three plays until mid-October. Also scheduled was a small winter production, as well as other kinds of outreach activities. Although the season's two Shakespeare choices might have appeared in the repertory of many summer theatres, the other six productions, including works by Hellman, Maugham, Shaw, Beckett, Fugard, and the South Africa playwright/actress Pamela Gien, revealed a strong artistic commitment to demanding texts from a range of authors. Major Barbara and The Circle were examples of productions that not only stood on their own, but also resonated from their proximity to each other in the company's repertory.

Ashleigh LaThrop (Jenny Hill), Colleen Madden (Barbara Undershaft), Travis A. Knight (Snobby Price), Jonathan Smoots (Andrew Undershaft), Sharina Martin (Mrs. Baines), and Matt Schwader (Bill Walker) in Major Barbara. (Photo: Zane Williams.)

A large part of ABT's success is certainly due to David Frank, the artistic director for the past nineteen seasons and the producing director for the past five. Over the past two decades, Frank has created an artistic home for a number of actors, directors, designers, and staff. While APT is not unique in attempting to provide ongoing work for some of its core ensemble, it does represent an endangered species in the American theatre. Reading the biographies of the 2010 company, it is not unusual to find actors and directors who have worked at APT for multiple seasons; in some cases, this includes work over multiple decades. The same is true for designers, as well as for both artistic and production staff. The result is a depth and consistency of artistic and production work, as well as a pervasive sense of ensemble.

On two chilly, late-September evenings, audience members sat wrapped in parkas and blankets to see Major Barbara on one evening, followed by The Circle on the next. The Up the Hill Theatre is an unusually intimate outdoor performance space with excellent sight-lines and unamplified acoustics that are far better than those of many open-air theatres. While APT has necessarily responded to recent economic conditions, these two productions persuasively demonstrated that the company has not changed its core aesthetic nor its commitment to the intelligence of its artists and audiences.

Both productions were simply but handsomely designed, with functional production elements that showcased, rather than overwhelmed, the performances. Both plays have primarily indoor settings, but the designers did not try to mask the outdoor space nor hide the more Shakespeare-friendly structure that provided a seemingly permanent backdrop. Instead, minimal set pieces and furniture, along with attractive costumes, were sufficient to establish period and style for both shows. The acting ensemble delivered engaging, well-crafted performances, and a sense of trust could be felt between audiences and performers—trust that they were sharing something entertaining and worth attending. All aspects of these two productions seemed focused clearly on the plays and players, and even the occasional bat hanging on the set...