Major Barbara

It was another George Bernard Shaw play. Bleh. There were three acts. Act one was interesting. Act two was half interesting. Act three scene one was okay. Act three scene two was half interesting. Here is why. The interesting parts were when actual people were having real dialogue, genuine reactions, and there was movement onstage. The boring parts were when two people would stand onstage debating. The problem is that no one really knows what they were debating about. There was no clear-cut problem. On the contrary, it seemed to be four or five problems jumbled into one. And nothing was really answered at the end. Not that an answer was necessary- actually, it gives one the opportunity to think for one's self when a solution is not presented. It's just that sometimes when one is given a solution he can figure out what the problem was to begin with.

In any case, it was a highly political and moral play pushing Shaw's political and moral viewpoints- or at least the problems he had with the current society. These problems still exist today. Can the Salvation Army take "evil money"? Is there such a thing as "evil money" (money that is earned through a sinful process such as weapons or prostitution)? Is it wrong to be in the weapons-making business? What is morality? What is right/wrong? All of these very good questions, and a few viewpoints are argued in the show.

Before and after the show we had the opportunity to meet with Clare Higgins. She is truly a wonderful actress (in Major Barbara) and she approches acting in a practical, sensible, effective way. But what I liked most about her is that she loves it with all her heart. She can't help but laugh out loud during curtain call because of the joy it feeds into her soul. And she obviously gets something out of it- we had an hour-long discussion after the show about the questions it presents. She is truly a remarkable woman and I'm glad we had the chance to talk to her and learn something from her. The one thing she said to me that stood out above all the rest was this:
"If you walk on stage and you don't know where you are, they [the audience] doesn't know where you are. And they want to find out."