THEATER REVIEW : ‘Puntila’ Runs On (and On) Its Merry Way

There are some lively ideas that pepper director Tony Abatemarco’s staging of “Puntila and Matti” at the Odyssey Theatre.

Take the a cappella chorus and shadow play that launch the show like a goofy circus parade. Note the shadow puppet burlesque with screaming kazoos battling their way through an argument. Smile at the lip-syncing to recorded songs that doesn’t pretend to fool anyone.

That’s the good news. The gaudy spirit of Bertolt Brecht’s “folk” comedy is richly exacerbated here, and this witty excuse for a lusty debate between the capitalist Puntila and his proletarian chauffeur Matti runs on (and on) its merry, drunken way like some “Woyzeck” gone berserk.

But no matter how disguised it is in cleverly pointed language, “Puntila and Matti” is a dialectic and it takes on whatever political overtones are dearest to one’s heart or nearest to one’s mind. As times change, so does what we read into it. And the recent fall of Marxism lends new irony to the discourse, as does, not so paradoxically, the fall of George Bush.

All this would be splendid if director Abatemarco had not also decided to leave Brecht’s roisterous play more or less intact. At three and a half hours, with two intermissions, it demands commitment. Often unreasonably.

There is plenty of repetition in this slapstick tale of an arrogant burgher, Puntila (Gene Dynarski) who is generous and friendly only when extremely drunk (“I fight these attacks of raving sobriety like a man”). His philosophical progress is thwarted in conversation with his chauffeur Matti (Tom McCleister), a man of sobering logic and native common sense.

Brecht’s achievement is in making both men at once foolish and smart, so that the discussion can bounce freely between them and they can each take turns at having the upper hand. But there’s no question who the playwright favors or that his disdain for the so-called upper classes will prevail, particularly as we navigate through the rapids of Puntila’s selfish daughter’s wedding plans.

Elitist daughter Eva (Talia Paul), whose intended is a wimpy “attache” (attached to nothing in particular) for whom she feels no attraction at all, is a link between the classes. She’s the guinea pig, hungering for a “real” man like Matti, but failing miserably at all the “tests” for being a wife to a “real” man like that.

That opens up another can of worms that Brecht may not even have considered in 1940 when he wrote this play, though one can never be too sure. But in 1993 it’s impossible to overlook the sexist nature of Matti’s “testing” of Eva, though one can see its parallels to Petruchio’s trumped-up ordeals for Kate in “Taming of the Shrew.”

Paul, unfortunately, is not up to the subtle demands of the role, especially not the verbal ones. She lacks the range or seasoning, lunging for the nearest pout or impudent toss of the head when something more complex is required.

But McCleister and Dynarski are splendidly matched, worthy jousters who take turns at being conquering heroes. McCleister’s surly-burly Matti is a smart and diffident surveyor of the field who learns from his master how to become a real tactician.

Drunks are seldom attractive and never for three hours, but the acuity of Dynarski’s canny Puntila is true coin of the realm.

There are other performers in the company who merit noting: Bob Trebor’s apoplectic judge and drinking partner; Susannah Blinkoff’s Fina, and Steve Brady in a variety of roles, none better than his terminally timid waiter with a bad case of the shakes.

Ralph Manheim’s translation holds up well and Jeffrey Schneider’s simple but effective design of curtains that can be drawn across the stage, to conceal or reveal different portions of it, gives the illusion of a show within a show, as if all we see is something of an inside joke. Sam Anderson has contributed tangy original music, and Kit McCall’s costumes enhance the otherwise barely suggested context of the 1940s.

Good work, that would have benefited from less devotion to the text. “Puntila and Matti” is one of Brecht’s most jocular plays and a real surprise. But it needs an editor. Merits aside, the production at its current length is a grueling sit.

Be prepared.

“Puntila and Matti,” Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m., except April 4 and 18, 3 p.m. only. Ends May 2. $17.50-$21.50; (310) 477-2055. Running time: 3 hours, 25 minutes.