Arms and the Man

In his program notes director Richard Cottrell uses extensive quotes from TS Eliot and Bertolt Brecht to affirm the talent and prescience of GB Shaw  - but it is just two sentences from Brecht that sum up Cottrell’s production of this insightful satire on false heroism and vanity – “He (Shaw) furnishes the theatre with as much fun as it can take. And it can take a lot”.

Cottrell accentuates the ‘fun’ and the ‘lot’ by pushing the satire almost to farce … but Shaw’s piercing criticism of society and his anti-war message come through clearly, succinctly and, surprisingly, relevantly.

Shaw chose to set the play in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885. It revolves around Raina Petkoff, who yearns for romance, excitement … and an escape from the falseness of the upper class society in which she lives. When a Swiss soldier climbs into her bedroom to escape the battle below, she offers him sanctuary, feeds him chocolate creams and falls in love. Unfortunately she is already engaged to the heroic, but very egotistic, Sergius Saranoff.

Thus, using the complications of a love triangle involving three over-the-top characters, Shaw sets about debunking the artificialities of military and romantic conventions. Cottrell picks up on all of these eccentricities in his direction. There is much posturing, declamation and some moments of almost excessive over acting which, despite being very funny, tend to slow the otherwise fast pace that is essential to the production.

Set designer Michael Scott-Mitchell has produced a winter-white picture postcard set of cardboard-cut-out trees and elegant furnishings that are perceptively lit by Damien Cooper. Julie Lynch has used the glamour and colour of the period in her beautifully designed and tailored costumes, which are worn with style and flourish by every member of the cast.

Andrea Demetriades, elegant in mauves and blues, finds all the duplicity of Raina Petkoff in a cleverly directed combination of melodramatic and realist heroine. Demetriades plays up every ironic aspect of the character – the dutiful, superficial society daughter, the overtly effusive fiancée and the much more sensible, practical person underneath. She mixes pace and grace with comedic timing to find every feminine and feminist nuance of yet another of Shaw’s ‘real women’.

Mitchell Butel is similarly clever in his portrayal of the Swiss ‘chocolate cream soldier’, Captain Bluntschli. Dishevelled and war-torn in the first scenes, he plays the anti-hero with blustering sangfroid, disarming honesty and some exaggerated comic moments. Returning post war, he is the levelheaded negotiator – a sharp contrast to the Petkoff family and the narcissistic Major Saranoff.

Charlie Cousins makes his STC debut as Saranoff and uses just the right amount of posturing and swagger to depict the self-absorbing egocentric bravado of this character. Resplendent in red and white, he clicks his heels, shows his profile, boasts, rants … and successfully ridicules the perceived image of the Victorian military hero.

Seasoned performers Deborah Kennedy and William Zappa play Raina’s parents, Major Paul and Catherine Petkoff.

Kennedy is almost majestic as Catherine, sweeping across the stage in her beautifully designed costumes and using her usual expressive face to bring depth and even more humour to the role. Zappa struts at first in uniform, later in pretty, red pointed toe slippers to depict this rich old society conscious soldier. Both actors make the very most of every farcical line and theatrical pose.

Brandon Burke and Olivia Rose play Nicola and Louka, the very contrasting servants of the household. As Nicola Burke is self-servingly obsequious, while Rose finds much delight in portraying the rebellious and social climbing Louka. Jason Kos makes a brief appearance as a Russian soldier.

This is a colourful production in every sense of the word. It is vivid and vibrant. The characters are richly drawn and portrayed – and if it is a little more farce than satire, it certainly “furnishes the theatre with as much fun as it can take”!

Carol Wimmer

Images: Andrea Demetriades and Charlie Cousins; Andrea Demetriades, Deborah Kennedy and Olivia Rose; & Charlie Cousins and Mitchell Butel in Sydney Theatre Company’s Arms and the Man. © Heidrun Löhr.