TheatreFIRST has more than made good on its goal to give Bay Area audiences theatrical offerings on a global scale.
The intrepid Oakland company concludes its three-play season with David Hare’s "A Map of the World," a fascinating (if messy) polemic about ideals in a world ravaged by ego, cynicism and cultural imperialism.
by Chad Jones, STAFF WRITER
Oakland Tribune, June 13, 2003
British playwright Hare has provided intriguing bookends to the TheatreFirst season. Earlier this year, the company produced Hare’s fascinating one-man show about the Israel-Palestine conflict, "Via Dolorosa."
Now, with "Map," originally produced in London in 1983 and on Broadway in 1985, TheatreFirst continues to demonstrate that theater can be an excellent forum for discussions on an international scale.
Performed in the Oakland YWCA, "A Map of the World" takes its title from an Oscar Wilde quote that begins, "A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not even worth glancing at."
The comic drama is set in luxurious Bombay hotel during a 1978 UNESCO conference on world poverty and delves into George Bernard Shaw territory in which political arguments are dressed in the trappings of conventional drama.
The primary mouthpieces here are an urbane Indian-born writer named Victor Mehta (Terry Lamb), who has forsworn his native land for the more lucrative shores of England, and Stephen Andrews (Mark Farrell), a journalist for a "literary left-wing" magazine.
Given Victor’s reputation for worldly comedy and for the incisive satire in his novels, it’s easy to see why people have claimed the character is loosely based on writer V.S. Naipaul. But Hare never makes a convincing argument for inviting a novelist to be the keynote speaker at a United Nations conference on poverty.
Clearly, the playwright wants to make statements about the nature of fiction and the ways we distort truths through our own personal filters, but Victor’s presence at the conference is a contrivance — although one that eventually yields a payoff.
Stephen and Victor dislike each other almost immediately, and the reason goes beyond their opposing politics. They both fancy another guest at the hotel, Peggy Whitton (Amy Resnick), a fetching movie actress.
A conflict arises when the delegate from an African country, M’Bengue (astonishingly powerful Christine Odera), derides Victor and his work and questions the appropriateness of having him at the conference.
An unctuous Scandinavian official (David Winter) tries to smooth ruffled feathers by asking Victor to read a short statement before his address in which he basically admits that fiction is all lies, so no offense is meant by his political barbs.
Of course Victor refuses, but Stephen argues that if Victor reads the statement, the conference continues, leaders develop aid programs and suffering in the world is lessened.
As hostilities mount between Victor and Stephen, Peggy steps into the fray and suggests the two men hold a debate. A CBS newswoman (Leontyne Mbele Mbong) will serve as judge and Peggy herself will be the prize. The victor becomes her companion for the night.
Before he arrives at the debate, the real centerpiece of the two-hour play, Hare muddies things up by flashing forward in time to a movie set where a film is being made based on a novel by Victor about the events of the UNESCO conference.
This is Hare offering more thoughts on the multi-layered nature of truth, interpretation and simplification. As a dramatic device, the movie component is fun but unnecessary. Director Clive Chafer makes effective transitions between the two time periods, but the effort fails to make much impact.
Once the final debate begins, both Lamb and Farrell catch fire and make their characters’ eloquent, passionate arguments more than just fancy speeches.
Victor, true to form, is whip smart and incisive. He says the West’s aid to the Third World is a waste of time and the worst sort of arrogant interference. Stephen makes his attack more personal and says Victor’s gloomy world views are more a reflection of his own loneliness and inadequacies than anything else.
Peggy’s "appalling contest" never quite concludes, and as we flash forward in time once more, Victor has a moment of compassion: "This feeling, finally, that we may change things, this is at the center of everything we are," he says. "Lose that, lose everything."
Thoughtful, smart and well acted, TheatreFirst’s "A Map of the World" is a strong production of an imperfect, thought-provoking play.
You can e-mail Chad Jones at cjones@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4853.