If you’re a fan of Kurt Vonnegut (he was a fan of G.B. Shaw) you will like this play.
THE BASICS: TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD, a later-in-life play by the Nobel Prize-winning George Bernard Shaw, directed by Sanjay Talwar, is at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre (“behind” the larger Festival Theatre), part of Shawfest in Niagara-on-the-Lake where it’s in repertory through October 8. Visit shawfest.com or call 1-800-511-7429. Spacious lounge, snacks, hot and cold beverages available, including wine and beer.
Runtime: Three hours with two intermissions.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD, written when Shaw was 76 years old, lets George Bernard Shaw turn the world upside down to show us different points of view on a number of topics, every one of which is (unfortunately) still relevant today, exactly 90 years after the play was written. Topics such as vaccinations, the role of the military, the role of women, of religion, as well as ideas such as Atheism and Socialism and Class Structure, all have their moment in the spotlight. Fortunately, in true Shaw fashion, there is plenty of humor to more than sweeten the lectures. And, typical of Shawfest in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the costumes, the set, the actors, and the direction create the gold standard for our region.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION:
Act I: An upper-class woman in the prime of life, Miss Mopply, lies languishing in her sick bed, as bored as the idle rich could possibly be. She is fussed over by her overattentive mom, causing her to be sicker than she should be, at least according to a talking Microbe, who tells us that the patient is now making him sick. [Now that’s a switch!] When it develops that Susan, the temp nurse mom has hired, is actually a jewel thief, Miss Mopply immediately perks up, hops out of bed, and exercising her just discovered ability to do something with her life, suggests that she, and the nurse, and the nurse’s boyfriend steal as much as they can, including the pearl necklace, sell it, and then run off. And they should pretend that she, Miss Mopply, has been kidnapped for ransom. The Microbe wraps up Act I by telling us: “The play is now virtually over, but the characters will discuss it at great length for two acts more. The exit doors are all in order.”
Act II: The three, now in disguises, arrive at a British fort in an unidentified jungle with Susan the jewel thief/nurse posing as a Countess traveling with her brother and her maid (actually Miss Mopply who occasionally has to help Susan get away with the upper-class nuances of being a Countess). So, nothing is as it seems in this play. Proof of that is the very British Colonel Tallboys who has all but ceded his control of the situation in the jungle to Private Meeks, who is more than talented to keep things humming along.
Act III: As promised by The Microbe at the end of Act I, much more discussion ensues. Let me give you one small example: the scene where the father of one of the thieves appears and confronts his son, Aubrey, about stealing the pearl necklace (back in Act I). The son says his dad is making a fuss about nothing. The Elder says: “Do you call the theft of a pearl necklace nothing?” To which Aubrey replies: “Less than nothing, compared to the things I have done with your approval. I was hardly more than a boy when I first dropped a bomb on a sleeping village.” And so it goes. I’ve read that novelist Kurt Vonnegut held Shaw up as one of his heroes and said that Shaw was an enormous influence. I believe it. I like reading Kurt Vonnegut and also hearing him speak on issues. If you do too, I guarantee that you will like this play.
Back to Shaw, the writer: After some particularly unhappy reviews following the American tour of this play in the 1930s, Shaw felt that he should include a lengthy preamble to the printed version of the play. He asked: “Where, then, was the offense that so exceedingly disgruntled these unhappy persons [the theater audience and critics]? I think it must have been the main gist and moral of the play, which is not, as usual, that our social system is unjust to the poor, but that it is cruel to the rich.” Okay, that’s different.
And he continues: “My play is a story of three reckless young people who come into possession of, for the moment, unlimited riches, and set out to have a thoroughly good time with all the modern machinery of pleasure to aid them. The result is that they get nothing for their money but a multitude of worries and a maddening dissatisfaction.”
So, get ready to have this play challenge some of your established beliefs. All of those things we are advised to avoid discussing at the dinner table – sex, politics, and religion – they’re all there in this play. And many more “hot button” topics as well. One publicity tagline for this play is: “A fantasia to take you around the world in 80 ideas per minute.”
What makes Shawfest productions so good? One thing is lavish rehearsals and a long preview period. TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD started previewing on May 18 and had 6 preview performances (3 per week) before officially opening on May 29. Most local Buffalo theaters have one preview and then a run of three to four weeks. TOO TRUE runs through October 8, a little over four months.
Of course, it’s good to see many of our favorite Shawfest actors back on stage after a two year pandemic hiatus. Travis Seetoo (8th season at Shawfest) is The Microbe, Donna Soares (2nd) is The Patient, Jenny Wright (26th) is her mother, Graeme Somerville (20th) is The Burglar, Marla McLean (16) is The Nurse, Neil Barclay (32) is Colonel Tallboys while Jonathan Tan (12) plays Private Meeks (a role written by Shaw to resemble his friend T.E. Lawrence, as in “Lawrence of Arabia”). The scenes with Barclay and Tan as Tallboys and Meeks alone are worth the price of admission. Rounding out the cast are Martin Happner (17) as The Doctor (and others) and Patrick Galligan (19) as The Elder. That is one heckuvan experienced crew.
The Jackie Maxwell Theatre on the Shawfest campus is sort of their “black box” theater, where they put on some of the edgier more thought-provoking plays as opposed to plays that are more traditionally for entertainment. It’s a theater in the round with no bad seats, great acoustics, and four entrances for the actors so things keep moving.
Let’s wrap up with a discussion of an elephant in the room: Getting into Canada. It’s as easy as it’s ever been. I’ve done it successfully four times so far just this past month. Only one thing has changed and that’s downloading and filling out the Canadian ARRIVECAN app. It’s available for iOS (The App Store), Android (Google Play), and online on the web here.
It’s free and secure and easy. You only need to set it up once. And then sometime during the three days before you show up, you’ll add a few more pieces of information. And, by the way, while you’re encouraged to print or snap a screenshot of the QR code that’s generated in advance of each trip, nobody ever asked to see mine or anyone else’s in the car. (I’m guessing that the customs agent enters your passport number and that links them to your ARRIVECAN app.) Whatever. Just do it.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!
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