A Love Mismatch in ‘Ondine’ Explores the Possibilities

Jean Giraudoux uses an “ondine” (French for water sprite) to sardonically comment on the oddities of human culture from an outsider’s point of view in “Ondine,” currently in a sparkling revival of Maurice Valency’s adaptation at the Powerhouse Theatre.

Like Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” Giraudoux’s water sprite falls fatally in love with a human. Both stories underscore the problems of this mismatch. While the Little Mermaid is seen as unworthy of human love because she lacks a soul, Ondine’s tragedy is that humans are a weak and an untrustworthy lot. They can’t abide strict truthfulness and unconditional love.

A knight, Hans (Don Fischer), sent into the Black Forest to prove his love to his betrothed Princess Bertha (Ginna Carter), falls in love with Ondine (Mary Dixie Carter). As a condition to this marriage, Ondine swears a pact with the King of the Sea (James Greene): If Hans betrays her, Hans will die.

Manfred Flynn Kuhnert directs with great wit and sass. The addition of three glam-girl ondines, singing original songs by John Dickson, somehow easily fits into the 1939 play.

Mary Dixie Carter plays the title character as a good-hearted, candid immortal--wise enough to see the evil ways of the polished, politely poisonous vixen Ginna Carter embodies. As the object of their affections, Fischer is stolid and only dimly aware of the court machinations. The courtiers (Stephen Heath, Michaela Hughes, Daniel Passer), led by James Gleason as the Lord Chamberlain, are hysterically funny.

Thomas Gregg Meyer constructs a fanciful set, beginning with an oversized triptych of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Nativity” and folding back into a confectionary, peach-colored castle court.

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* “Ondine,” Powerhouse Theatre, 3116 2nd St., Santa Monica. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Dec. 20. $15. (888) 566-8499. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.