Engaging Shaw

Abingdon Theatre Company's dedication to presenting new works by American playwrights is an admirable one, giving tyro scribes the chance to see their work performed in New York City. But the execution can often be way off the mark. Unfortunately, "Engaging Shaw" falls into that category.

A period piece about the relationship between George Bernard Shaw and Charlotte Payne Townshend, John Morogiello's play is heavy on epigrams and oddly contemporary discussions about sex (though Shaw was certainly a man ahead of his time), but the battle of wits between the cerebral Shaw and the determined Townshend, who set her cap for marriage to the writer, is an entertaining and witty one. The problem ultimately is in watching a period play performed in a postage stamp–sized theater, one that harshly reveals the low budget allotted for costumes, hair, and makeup.

As Shaw and Townsend, Warren Kelley and Claire Warden manage to make their characters' lofty conversations seem natural and spontaneous, no small feat given the high intellect of the real people they're portraying. As Shaw's friends Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Marc Geller and Jamee Vance fare less well under Jackob G. Hofmann's direction. Both performances feel a little too overly planned, lacking the freshness that Kelley and Warden exhibit. But everyone is hampered by Hofmann's restless direction to pace around the stage, especially as the audience is practically sitting on the set (design by the Ken Larson Company). That closeness to the play ultimately detracts from Morogiello's story; there's no way such intellectual conversation and argument can retain their stature when we can see how hard everyone is working to keep things humming. The title "Engaging Shaw" turns out to be mostly wishful thinking.


Presented by and at Abingdon Theatre Company, 312 W. 36th St., NYC. April 18–May 2. Wed. and Thu., 7 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 2 p.m. (212) 868-2055 or www.abingdontheatre.org. Casting by William Schill.