‘A Confederacy of
Dunces’ — Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by John Kennedy Toole; Directed by David
Esbjornson; Musical Direction by Wayne Barker; Costumes by Michael Krass;
Lighting Design by Scott Zielinski; Sound Design by Mark Bennett and Charles
Coes. Presented by The Huntington Theatre Company at the BU Theater, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston, through December 20th.
If you’re a fan of
either Nick Offerman, one of the stars of the television series “Parks and
Recreation” or the 1960’s picaresque novel “A Confederacy of Dunces”, chances
are you will find the world premiere of the stage production of that work now
being presented by The Huntington Theatre Company enormously entertaining. But
if you, like me, aren’t familiar with either, you may find this play to be a
little too close to sitcom (albeit an ambitious one) to be considered a fully
developed theater piece. Which is a little surprising given the source
material, which won the Pulitzer for fiction in 1981 and has been described by
some as a ‘comic masterpiece’.
‘Confederacy’ centers
around the failed exploits of Ignatius J. Reilly (played convincingly by the
very funny Offerman), a rotund 30-year old undiscovered genius — at least in his own mind. The title of the book and play
is derived from this quote by Jonathan Swift (which is apparently meant to be
ironic for the book’s purposes): “When a true genius appears, you can know him
by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.” The witty
but acid-tongued Ignatius certainly believes that of himself, and therefore
does not suffer fools gladly — whether
it be police officers or strangers in the street. And he saves the worst of his
invective for his mother, who despite feeding, clothing and providing him
shelter (and enabling him to remain in his underachieving state) with no
reciprocity, remains the target of his condescending sniping.
Asked what he does
with all of his time lounging about his mother’s house (other than pleasuring
himself off-stage in a crudely funny bit), he responds, “I dust a bit. In
addition, I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century.”
In some ways he is the 1960’s equivalent of an internet troll, spending all of
his time critiquing everyone and everything around him instead of either doing
something to change the world or — heaven
forbid — looking at himself.
His doting mother
finally tires of his joblessness, so he reluctantly secures a position as a
file clerk with a company called Levy’s Pants, where he leads an ill-fated
worker’s rights movement a few days into his career that results in his firing,
which leads to an even more absurd job. There is also an involved subplot about
an Eva Braun-esque strip joint owner illegally selling pornographic photographs
under the noses of the vice squad while an apprentice stripper prepares her
stage act (with a cockatoo). And while that is all undoubtedly funny stuff in
the book, it just feels superfluous here. It is one of many story threads that
doesn’t feel well developed for the stage version, and the somewhat convoluted
plot sometimes feels as if the play’s adaptors are trying to stuff as many
elements of the book into the two-and-a-half hours as they can to satisfy fans.
Which isn’t to say
there aren’t some very funny moments in this play. The audience laughed
throughout, and I did in spots, mostly at Ignatius’ erudite putdowns or
rationalizations of his bizarre behavior. Offerman is terrific in this role,
and he has some very funny character support, including Arnie Burton as a 60’s
caricature of a gay man named Dorian Greene, and Paul Melendy as Officer
Mancuso, the undercover cop assigned to find “perverts” while dressing like a
nun and other absurd costumes. Anita Jillette as Ignatius’ mother and Ed Peed
as her suitor Claude also submit fine performances.
The costumes are a
plus and they appear to be period appropriate, which makes the director’s
choice to pantomime everything from newspapers to drink glasses such a curious
choice, made even more peculiar when sound effects of car doors opening or
someone typing are provided. If you’re going to spend money on costumes, why
not spring for a couple of beer bottles and a copy of the Times-Picayune? The
music between scenes is also a plus, anchoring the action firmly in New Orleans. This show is
scheduled to head for Broadway in the spring, so there are bound to be massive
changes to make it a little more cohesive before then. For more info, go to: http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2015-2016/confederacy-of-dunces/.
