Review: George Bernard Shaw's MAJOR BARBARA Aims to Prove Money and Munitions Rule the World

George Bernard Shaw is perhaps best known for PYGMALION, the play which inspired the beloved hit musical MY FAIR LADY. Like that play, in MAJOR BARBARA, Shaw shares his take on family, politics, society, love and war with his ever timely, keen wit although his early life in Ireland gave no hint as to the greatness he would achieve. In 1878 at the age of 22, Show wrote his first of 65 plays and at least 5 novels, going on to win a Nobel Prize and an Oscar during his career's initial stages.

While his employment as a clerk and eventually a critic for various periodicals only provided him a means to support his mother with whom he lived and two older sisters in London, thankfully his various jobs did not deter him from his passion for writing. Escaping for brief moments, he found the reading room at the British Museum a sanctuary for creating his characters that continue to walk across the boards to this day.

At a time when many considered women to be mentally and emotionally incapable of even voting in elections, Shaw portrayed strong, smart women with the ability to contribute to society at sophisticated levels. Shaw also explored class interactions and inspired audiences to laugh at the absurdities inherent within them. These two themes are certainly apparent in MAJOR BARBARA, now onstage at the Meta Theater in Hollywood, presented by Infinite Jest Theatre Company, directed with passion for Shaw's words by Branda Lock with Assistant Director Bruce Starrett.

Andrew Undershaft (Daniel Muller), a wealthy armaments manufacturer loves money, despises poverty, and prefers to use the money he makes in the lucrative business of war to save the poor from evil. His estranged daughter Barbara (luminescent Samantha Barrios), on the other hand, supports the poor by throwing her energies into her work as a soul saving Major in the Salvation Army and sees her "wicked" father as just another soul in need of saving. Wooed by professor-turned-preacher Adolphus Cusins (William Reinbold), Barbara's hopeful ideals and happy romance are challenged in this clever, resonating battle for men's souls and the rightful place of women in a society ruled by money and munitions.

The class struggle between the wealthy and the poor comes into focus with the juxtaposition of scenes between the wealthy household led by Lady Brittomart (the wonderfully uptight yet totally animated Graciela Valderama) who is hoping to marry off her daughters well while caring for her stay-at-home son Stephen Undershaft (tall and handsome Kevin Shiley), and the Salvation Army offices where poor street people hang out to receive a free meal and help recruit others in to the fold. Both Valderama and Shiley play street people in Act 2, with each part created to perfection. Their Mom and son pairing in the first act is reflected in the friendly demeanor they have for each other as unrelated street people in the second.

The same can be said of Douglas Mattingly who portrays the wealthy Charles Lomax and Act I and the menacing street hood Bill Walker in the second. Mattingly disappears into both roles and you would never know the same actor plays both parts without reading it in the program. His fiancée in Act I is Barbara's sister Sarah (Caroline Day) who then plays Jenny Hill, a Salvation Army officer under the care of Major Barbara whose run-in with Bill Walker causes quite an uproar. It is interesting to see the two actors shares these two so different couples with in the play. Michele Schultz and Pete Pano round out the cast in supporting roles that keep the action moving along.

Shaw's plays are known for being rather wordy, and while this production comes in at almost 3 hours running time with 3 acts and two intermissions to allow for costume/character changes within the double casting, the show moves along at a steady pace that's to Branda Lock's efforts to keep the pace moving along as quickly as possible.

Set design by Hester Russell Krog centers around an upstage platform and several small furniture pieces which the actors and stage crew move quickly on and off the stage while period appropriate music selections chosen by sound designers Edward C. Esau and Doug Mattingly are very entertaining. Costume Designer Emily Brown-Kucera creates perfect period pieces for all characters from a range of social backgrounds.

Although Shaw's theme that money and munitions rule government, just think about how our politicians are reacting to the violence on our street today. It is unfortunate how many parallels can be drawn between our time and that of Major Barbara Undershaft, a strong woman determined to make it in a man's world.

MAJOR BARBARA runs through July 10 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm at the Meta Theater, 7801 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles 90046. Special Hot Dogs and Beer Cookout on July 3. Tickets: $25. Bring a non-perishable food item to support the Los Angeles Food Bank and receive $5 off admission at the door. Theater entrance is located around the corner on Ogden Drive just north of Melrose. Wheelchair Accessible by parking in the rooftop lot located off Ogden just north past the theater entrance.

More Information/Tickets: www.InfiniteJestTheatreCompany.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.