University Daily Kansan
'J.B.': A Puzzle to Ponder
Page 3
By Robert Scott Phillips
An amalgam of three parts theatrical hokum, four parts dramatic dynamite, and one part Biblical evocation was blended last night on the stage of the University Theatre. Archibald MacLeish's "J.B." under the masterful direction of William Reardon, associate professor of speech and drama, opened a four-day run to a first-night audience which seemed largely unprepared and unready for the dramatic fare served them. The audience is always something of a key factor on opening night, and this particular group was restless and inattentive during much of the performance—a true rapport between actors and spectators was seldom achieved. Also, for the players, the cough brigade was out in full force and thoroughly drowned out a number of good lines.
The three roles (sadly enough, major ones) which failed substantially to come through to this reviewer in a concrete, fully-realized manner were those of Mr. Zuss, J.B., and Sarah. None of these characters seems to have understood what his portrayal was really all about, and that vagueness obviously makes rather tough sledding for the audience. The problem need not be solely the fault of the players in question, all of whom enacted their roles with admirable finesse, but may simply refer back to MacLeish and his original conception of the characters, which appears to have been a bit fuzzy at times.
JERRY DAVIS, of Kansas City, as Mr. Zuss, MacLeish's Godfigure, unfortunately lacks the voice quality and dramatic intensity for the part, but he brings to it, nevertheless, much conviction and dignity which occasionally approach power, but usually fall somewhat short.
Miles Coiner, a Lawrence graduate student, plays J. B., the modern businessman Job, with a great deal of histrionic skill. Nevertheless, one is left with the impression that this is precisely the sum total of his interpretation — not heart and guts, but histrionic skill. His torment, in a word, seems superficial. J. B. is, of course, a difficult part to create, since until the last five minutes of the play, he is little more than a dupe for the two puppet-masters, Zuss and Nickles.
Coiner's J. B. is an emotional
character, but not an emotional experience for the audience.
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Carol Strickland, Kansas City junior, fails somehow to present a coherent and sustained interpretation of Sarah, the tortured wife, throughout the performance. Her degree of emotional involvement also seems rather superficial, and unequal to the complexities of the part.
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FOR THE GREATEST part of the evening, the stage virtually belongs to Virgil Godfrey, assistant professor of speech and drama, portraying MacLeish's most successful character realization — Nickles, the Satan-fiure. Prof. Godfrey has, of course, the juiciest role of the play, and he makes the most of it to an extent which makes his performance almost incomparable with the others.
The direction of Prof. Reardon is
sensitive and powerful — his conception of the work as shown in this production, his synthesis of the two major versions (the original Yale and the Broadway of Kazan), is big enough to contain a ruling pattern and yet to accommodate many diverse notions of interpretation arising from the cast itself.
THE SETTINGS, designed by James Hawes are imaginative and highly adaptable to the movement of the play. The lighting and special effects by Donald Redmore and Burton Meisel are extremely dramatic and well-conceived, particularly during the spectacular bomb scene. The sound, created by Carl Bentz is always splendidly executed and germane to the action on stage.
To sum up, theatrical hokum seems to be the ingredient in the amalgam whose essence most dominates the entire mixture.
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