Puntila and his Hired Man
Image © Lisa Ebright
REMAINS GIVES BRECHT A JOLLY TWIST
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Apr 21, 1986; Richard Christiansen, Entertainment editor. Remains Theater’s new production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Puntila and His Hired Man” is such an astounding explosion of theatrical vitality that it may seem niggardly to note (weakly, to be sure) that it is probably not quite what its author intended it to be.
In the gusto of its ensemble performance and in the rich imagination of its folk art design, this is a most ambitious, exhilarating evening of joyous Chicago theater; yet it is so happy, and so filled with expert vaudevillian energy that it loses some of the sharp social and political bite Brecht put into it.
Written in 1940, when Brecht was in exile in Finland, and created in collaboration with his then-landlady, Hella Wuolijoki, the play is an extravagant tale about Puntila, a rich landowner who is a fine human being when drunk, but a cruel tyrant when sober. Joined to him as a servant is his engaging chauffeur Matti, a vital rascal who almost marries Puntila’s vain daughter but, having better sense, finally turns his back on decadent capitalism and heads back to the glorious way of the working man.
As written by Brecht and certainly as played with tidal waves of comic force by Denis Arndt, Puntila is by no means a stock bourgeois villain. But the sharp conflict between the hypocritical world he represents and the strong, beautiful world of the peasant-proletariat is not emphasized in this sunny version, and consequently Matti’s decision to abandon his master seems more like a forced, quick way to end the play, rather than its inevitable conclusion.
That being noted, one can then quickly go on to enjoy the many pleasures of this big, uproarious evening.
In staging this sprawling epic theater folk tale, Larry Sloan, Remains’ new artistic director, has done an amazing job of bringing together design and acting talents that power the production with unflagging invention.
“Puntila” is so rarely staged in this country that it would be impossible to determine the “correct” way to visualize it, but Rob Hamilton’s scenery and costumes, a kind of Scandinavian funk, warm up and embrace the big barn of the Organic Theatre, where Remains is staging the show, with vibrant colors and a variety of textures.
The cast of 20 actors effectively uses most of the Remains ensemble and fills out the rest of the roles with Chicago actors and a welcome influx of players new to the stage here.
Primary among these is Arndt, a Seattle veteran making his Chicago debut, who, as the lusty Puntila, is the force that keeps the play jumping.
Spinning around him in varying degrees of camp, caricature and full- blooded sassiness are William L. Petersen, sly and virile as Matti; Amy Morton, outrageously comic as Puntila’s spoiled daughter; Bruce Norris, wonderful as her milksop fiance; and Bonnie Koloc, delightfully earthy as the singer who sets the scenes with the aid of composer-performer Howard Levy’s peppy score.
Everybody has a wonderful time, perhaps with a little too much jollity to suit Brecht, but wonderful, nonetheless.
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