Don Juan Not Redeemed
But Gets Rapt Attention of the Audience
by
Good News Reporter, Joanne Quinn-Smith
Don Juan Comes Home
from the War is a classic case study of the wishful thinking of the world that
justice Pittsburgh Irish Classical Theatre has won another theatrical battle with this one.
and fair play do exist and that the Vanquisher becomes the Vanquished and in loneliness and despair regrets his folly.
and fair play do exist and that the Vanquisher becomes the Vanquished and in loneliness and despair regrets his folly.
There are two types of regional or local folk heroes. One of them is being rich and famous and the
other is the glamour of being a soldier gone off to war and then again
survived. Add that to well touted
sexual charm and conquest and this is the stuff from which legends are
born. In his preface, the playwright
Odon von Horvath remarks that it is not known if Don Juan was a real person. But it is not hard to imagine a man or MEN in
such a hedonistic life style as pre war Berlin was famous for breeding not one
but several wealthy, seeming gallant A-listing males. This actually could happen in any decadent
society where deeper moral and values pale in comparison with being valued
superficially for charm and popularity and excessive self gratification.
My companion for the evening commented that as usual the
quality of PICT’s actors was world class but that the play itself made her “Angry
at being a woman.”
David Whalen was as usual exceptional as Don Juan. His cool, detached style as the conflicted
anti-hero could not be denied.
Throughout the play Don Juan speaks of always pursuing love and that he
feels like he is being punished but he knows not for what. The playwright seems to want us to believe that
the casualties of war are those who SURVIVE.
I think you can extend that to: “The
casualties of a valueless society based on instant gratification are the worst
when the willing participants realize that they were victims to loveless, relationshipless
pursuits.”
The great seducer in all decaying societies has been “Eat
drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.”
But then we don’t and must face the consequences of guilt and self
mockery. Don Juan’s inescapable power over
women becomes his nemesis even when he “tries” to be good. His attempts become a mockery and in the end
a final female calls out in the night, “Stay with me tonight and die tomorrow.”
What the playwright never says in the play is that in his
pursuit of “love” like so many men and often women who want to be “adored” Don
Juan was used as he used and never really loved.
There are no “love scenes” in the play probably for that
reason, the closest Don Juan comes to love is jilting his bride at the
altar. There is one brief moment with
Elke one of his youthful conquests from the past when you think he might “get
it” but shortly after he ends up in the abbey questioning God and ending up
mocking him and his nuns for their piety.
There is no resolution for Don Juan, he is not saved, and he
is not redeemed. The playwright would
have us believe it is because his reputation “his Past” is too well formed and
the pull of the world will not allow him.
But in the end isn’t it all about Free Will and Discipline. It’s about responsibility to oneself and to
others. There is a passage in the bible,
“To whom much is given, much is required.”
There are men and WOMEN who take their charisma to the stage as
motivational speakers or pastors or even political figures and there are men
who waste it fleetingly taking it to bed.
Don Juan took it to his grave.
For entertainment value Don
Juan Comes Back from the War is an amazing piece of theatre art. But BEWARE it will make you THINK and like me
perhaps become a bit didactic. Ah yes,
but for one hour and thirty minutes without intermission, you will be
mesmerized by drama and hedonism and above all—stellar performances. Don
Juan will perform through August 31 at the Stephen Foster Memorial and
tickets are available at http://picttheatre.org
One more kudo and an aside. Director Alan Stanford has done a stunning job and once again with minimal costuming. He is to be complimented for having his actors put their close on instead of take them off. A warning to the puritanical, there is brief nudity in the beginning of the play but quite frankly it is like this comment an aside rather than an issue. Personally I don't think it was necessary, it did not add nor detract from the overall greatness of the production.
