STAGE REVIEWS : Ambitious ‘Shakuntala’ Falls Flat in Long Beach

Fine costumes (by Shigeru Yaji) and a handsome wooded glen (designed by Don Gruber and delicately lit by Paulie Jenkins) make one wish that producer/director Shashin Desai’s ambitious attempt to deliver an English staging of “Shakuntala” at the International City Theatre were more stageworthy than it is. But caryn morse’s adaptation of the Indian Kalidasa’s complex play (written in Sanskrit some 2,000 years ago) remains mired in verbal embroidery. It also fares poorly at the hands of Desai’s insufficiently experienced actors.

That is the short of it.

The long of it is that the experiment, worth attempting, deserved better follow-through, particularly since Desai is a natural heir to the Sanskrit tradition--and since Peter Brook’s production of “The Mahabharata” laid the groundwork. In its stage, film and television incarnations, it familiarized Western audiences with the measured pace, exotic conventions and wisdom of Eastern mythology.

“Shakuntala” at its most basic tells a tale of love, rejection and reunion. Daughter of a nymph, the young Shakuntala (a graceful Deborah Furland) was found and reared in an Ashram in the woods by the sage Kanva (Arland Russell). As a young woman playing in the forest, she meets and falls in love with King Dushyanta (Stephen Landis) who privately marries her. When he’s called away by affairs of state, he promises to send for her, leaving her a ring as proof of his commitment.

However, a curse is placed on Shakuntala. Because she neglected to properly welcome him, the sage Durvasas (Matthew Faulkner) makes Dushyanta forget Shakuntala. Only after friends intercede is the curse modified: Dushyanta, Durvasas agrees, will remember his now-pregnant wife, when she shows him the ring he gave her.

But on the way to Dushyanta’s court, the ring is lost in the Ganges. Repudiated by Dushyanta, who thinks she’s an impostor, the dishonored Shakuntala is pitied by her mother, Menaka (Sheree King), who spirits her away.

A fisherman finds the ring in the belly of his catch, is arrested and brought before the king on charges of thievery. Recognizing the jewel, Dushyanta’s memory returns. He goes searching for his bride, finds her with their son, and the three are happily reunited.

Desai’s staging of this tale is not without merit. Yaji’s costumes include stylishly impressionistic masks for horses, fawn and deer. Gruber’s mango grove converts to the king’s court with model simplicity. An evocative Indian musical score by Justus Matthews weaves hauntingly in and out of the piece and King, who can dance, is given chances to do so.

But there is a stubbornly collegiate air that hangs about this “Shakuntala.” What it lacks, besides actors who can handle the language and stylized conventions, is a leaner text. The original play broadcasts the action before it’s seen, and morse has largely retained this structure. To these Western eyes and ears, this seems needlessly redundant.

The prologue is an example of something that could easily be eliminated. Cosmetic pageantry is another. And the language itself is often still too flowery, which redoubles one’s admiration for the limpidity of “The Mahabharata.” It’s not easy to streamline poetry, but events are more charged when more sparingly told.

A company that could manage the language is essential. Why can’t International City Theater come up with better actors? Casual articulation--none more helplessly so than Landis’ Dushyanta--doesn’t cut it. Only Furlan’s delicate Shakuntala and Russell’s forceful Kanva possess vocal authority. The moment the others open their mouths the magic vanishes. We’re back in 1991 Long Beach with a figurative thud. It’s the wrong sensation at the wrong time in the wrong place.

* ‘ ‘Shakuntala,” International City Theatre, Harvey Way and Clark St., Long Beach. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends June 23. $15. (213) 480-3232, (213) 420-4218. Running time: 2 hours.