BWW Reviews: VAINGLORIOUS is Glorious Performance Art

The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, PIFA, has been celebrating historical events. Considering that the map of modern Europe is directly attributable to the Congress of Vienna, and the events preceding it, it was a wise choice for Applied Mechanics and director Rebecca Wright to take on the coronation of Napoleon on December 12, 1804. Not so much theatre as interactive performance art with a vengeance (and a wicked sense of humor as well as of history), VAINGLORIOUS (in full, VAINGLORIOUS: THE EPIC FEATS OF NOTABLE PERSONS IN EUROPE AFTER THE REVOLUTION) is Les Mis on steroids - the only way to capture all of these events in one hour.

Audiences should be advised: there are no seats; you can't hope to see the entire piece, but instead should wander throughout Europe on the theatre-space floor, to see where Napoleon is invading, where Talleyrand is engaging in diplomacy, who is the Empress Josephine's latest lover, what Madame de Stael is discussing at her salon, and what is happening in Vienna with Ludwig von Beethoven, his family, and his patrons. En route, expect to be offered a bite to eat by Josephine, to engage in a spot of gambling near Paris, or to help Anton Schindler edit Beethoven's conversation books. There's even a chance you may earn a medal in one of Napoleon's campaigns. Wear comfortable shoes, and carry your program, which has a map, at all times.

Mary Tuomanen is a fine Napoleon, apparently less in control of all of the proceedings than one might have thought, and Thomas Choinacky makes a suitably intense and darkly dramatic Beethoven. John Jarboe is a delight as a dizzy and dizzying Josephine, while Kristen Bailey, as the leader of the five Talleyrands, is (why else would you need five of him?) seemingly everywhere at once. Jessica Hurley as Mme. De Stael keeps the intellectual fires of France alive, while her husband Erik (played by Justin Jain) reminds all passers-by that his wife has written a book recently. Special notice is also due Kate Black-Regan as a peripatetic and slightly bewildered Duchess of Parma, and Dave Sweeney as Beethoven's doctor, Dr. Malfatti, who just may have been the hardest-working... or was that hardest-drinking... physician in Europe.

You'll get the most out of the show by walking right up to the cast and listening in on the conversations, or by saying hello to characters strolling past you. It's impossible to absorb everything happening, just as it would have been impossible to follow every single thing happening at the time, so choose your interest at any moment - is it Mme. De Stael's salon? One of Josephine's parties? Beethoven showing a new musical composition to a patron? Napoleon's machinations? Do not miss the Congress of Vienna, at which smaller areas of Europe are carved up like a roast by the diplomats of the alliance against Napoleon, or Beethoven's occasional difficulties conducting once his hearing loss begins affecting his balance. No one viewing spot will give you all of these things, so follow the map to see what's happening at each location.

If it's slightly bewildering, so were the times - not so different from now in that respect. You'll never absorb it all, so absorb what you need to take from it. You'll be pleasantly surprised that under the humor and in the midst of what looks like chaos, you'll be able to take away a few true things you might not have realized before.At Christ Church Neighborhood House (around the corner from the Arden), through April 13. Call 215-546-7432 or visit PIFA.org for tickets and information.

Photo credits: Tasha Doremus