The late 1920’s musical, Animal Crackers, running until July 13 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, is a puzzlement.
A triple-threat ensemble is giving its all in aid of a museum piece that would
have been better preserved in an enclosed vault rather than exposed to the air
of any theatre, let alone the sparkling splendor of the Williamstown mainstage.
Whatever the production cost in its design elements and production values would
certainly have been better invested in a project deserving of these resources.
And the same must be said for the fine company of actors who deserve far, far
more than this foolish script and threadbare score offer them.
When the Marx
Brothers premiered this musical revue in 1928, they were already major
names on Broadway, and their brand of raucous humour, political satire and
spontaneous ad-libbing with each other and the audiences they played to,
defined their personalities and their manic style. They were also well-seasoned
veterans of the burlesque and vaudeville traditions that formed them and this
kind of entertainment.
But that was then.
Many of today’s best stand-up comics rely on
the ad-lib to engage with audiences, both live and televised, but the brand of
humour has changed with the passing of so many years. What may have tickled
audiences more than eighty years ago is now, at best, tepid. The objects of
humour that populate this particular script are much more than musty, and the
actors’ hectoring of the audience about the dated quality of the material,
while passing funny, only underlines the utter silliness of the endeavour.
What prompts this kind of programming can’t be
timidity, since this season includes a new musical (“The Bridges of Madison
County”), as did last season (“Far from Heaven”). And there is ample proof that
new plays are also welcomed alongside classics. So, is it nothing more than a
misstep? Is it an attempt to resurrect a forgotten ‘gem’? Or, is the
programming challenge of giving folks what they want (or what the programmers
think they want) compromising the quality and standards that the festival
strives to achieve. The marketing of Williamstown weighs its past very heavily
and deservedly so. It’s to be hoped that the current and future seasons can
uphold this legacy.
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