LITERATURE NOT MEANT TO BE STAGED
Halfway through the first act of Brand at Red Tape theatre, it occurred to me that I had no idea what was going on. First of all, it can be argued that Henrik Ibsen’s 1866 dramatic poem (some call it a Verse-Drama) was not written to be staged. The 
clunky dialogue, written in different meters of rhyme, lands on the ear in fits and starts, and is crammed with allegory and religious themes. It is so dense and impenetrable that it was difficult to sort out exposition and plot from allegory and social commentary. Brand is the name of an uncompromising Norwegian priest who takes on a religious calling so fierce that he compromises the kindliness one would normally find in such a protagonist.
One surmises, especially at Red Tape, why this unwieldy tome, originally in five acts, is infrequently produced. In fact, it is presently out of print; but even when it was, theatre historian Martha Fletcher commented in 1927, “This composition cannot be considered wholly or primarily for the stage; it is a poetic record of a long intellectual and spiritual struggle.”
Brand is an interesting read and an even more fascinating study, however, and some scholars consider it a turning point in European Literature. But without a scholar present, the sentences felt unintelligible and difficult to discern, causing my mind to wander – and making it doubly difficult to keep my eyes open.
Disengaged doesn’t begin to describe my experience, at least in the first of two acts, yet I was never bored or angry for one reason: visually, director Max Truax is, simply put, brilliant. Unfortunately, his interpretation of text leaves a little bit to be desired. His actors stun in their ability to memorize and embody the dialogue, but his crew has not mastered what would be challenging for even the greatest actors at the Royal Shakespeare Company. A few passages would flow well, and then others would be rendered meaningless by stressing the wrong words.
It’s unclear whether Mr. Truax is even considering his audience’s emotional involvement as he creates pictures that are masterpieces in German Expressionism: The stage is a giant room inside Saint Peters Episcopal Church where fog-enshrouded detritus is strewn about the playing area – cardboard boxes and such – and giant plastic sheets are backlit, making the space feel evocative and moody. Truax’ creation is an art installation that represents the mountains of Ibsen’s Norway.
While it was fascinating that actors are inches away from your face – screaming lines to you as if you were the character to whom they were speaking – I was yearning for a play that would have better suited Truax’ wondrous staging and his superlative design team: something Brechtian, or perhaps a dark musical, such as Cabaret or Urinetown.
Brand also features clever scenery by Mike Mroch, eerie sound by Jonathan Guillen, rag-tag costumes by Emily Waecker and inventive lights by Karen Thompson.
photos by Austin D Oie
Brand by Henrik Ibsen
Red Tape Theatre Company
St. James Episcopal Church in Chicago
ends on October 29, 2011
for tickets, visit Red Tape
for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago