Merely pleasant

By Patricia Moris Buckley | SDUN Theater Critic

It’s sad that “Engaging Shaw” isn’t more, well, engaging. It’s a pleasant comedy with highly amusing characters talking about the true nature of humankind in witty, smart quips. And, at its heart, it’s a love story. But it never lives up to its own premise.

“Engaging Shaw” is the story of Irish playwright/novelist/music critic George Bernard Shaw, who charmed many of his peers, especially the ladies. He flirted and preened with many lovers at the same time, all the while declaring himself a permanent bachelor and totally unconventional (and also kind of non-sexual, an interesting twist).

The play begins the summer he spent with Sidney and Beatrice Webb, founders of the London School of Economics and active members of the socialist Fabian Society (Shaw was also a member), in a cottage in Stratford, England. There Shaw meets fellow Irish immigrant Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a smart, wealthy woman who has vowed to remain unmarried as well—until she falls madly in love with Shaw.

How she sets out to catch him is rather interesting, but there comes a point where he really, really won’t be caught, which turns Charlotte into a whiny baby and the whole premise collapses like a poorly timed soufflé. In a play about unconventional people, what could be more conventional than girl falls for boy, gets boy, loses boy, gets boy again? Shaw would have been appalled.

At one point, it almost seemed as if Charlotte would turn to Shaw and say, “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love me.” It’s that much of a rom-com.

The casting doesn’t help. Rod Brogan is technically excellent in the role of Shaw, nimbly handling difficult dialogue and playing all the many facets of this complex character. But he lacks the overwhelming charm and appeal of Shaw (who was never a looker, but always a favorite with the ladies). The same could be said of Michael Warner as Sidney, who fails to mine the material to its greatest depth.

However, the two women in the cast do more than make up for the men. Angela Pierce is sharp, crisp and subtle as Charlotte. Yet even she struggles when the character turns into an emotional puddle. The stand out performance belongs to Natalie Gold as Beatrice, who has a public and a private face. Gold admirably keeps them separate, but the moments they clash are some of the best in the show, thanks to Gold’s deft touch and exquisite comedic timing.

Henry Wishcamper’s fast-paced direction fits the script, but I wish he’d kept a better hand on the actors’ accents, which seemed to come and go. Wilson Chin’s drawing room set is versatile, although the rectangular rug under a hexagonal table seems to clash visually. But I loved the moment where papers fell like snow from the ceiling. Alejo Vietti’s costumes for the women really suit the period and the characters.

I wanted to fall in love with “Engaging Shaw,” and I came close. But although it’s worth seeing, it’s not much better fare than can be seen at the local multi-plex.8.