'The World' is Not Enough

Some plays should never be performed. Directed by Aileen K. Robinson ’08, and co-produced by Benjamin M. Poppel ’09 and Jeremy R. Steinemann ’08, Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theater (HRST) inexplicably chose to perform Keith Bunin’s “The World Over.” This past Friday at the Loeb Experimental Theatre, HRST presented its audience with a commendable production of a terrible play.

The play begins with a geographer who wants to explain the story of a country that only existed for one day, told by narrating the life of a boy named Adam. Raised on an uncharted island, Adam is rescued by a group of sailors that tell him a children’s story about the kingdom of Gildoray and its lost prince. Soon, Adam believes that he is actually the lost prince of Gildoray. The rest of the play features short scenes of Adam’s quest for Gildoray, during which he battles pirates, warriors, and gryphons, falls in love and rescues his young bride, liberates a village, saves a young couple, and faces natural disasters, to name a few of his adventures.

Bunin’s play is an odd choice for HRST. It is certainly unique: This may be the only play in existence that is simultaneously a whimsical fantasy and an overt critique of geo-political borders. Ignoring its ridiculous plot, the play is simply not well written, riddled with clichés and obvious morals. At the play’s climax, for example, after watching Adam spend most of his life traveling around the globe in search of Gildoray, he speaks the incredibly revealing line: “I was chasing a kingdom and found it was only a shadow.” This point was evident within the first few scenes of the play.

Arguably, the only interesting aspect of Bunin’s play is that it features more than thirty characters played by six of the seven cast members. Though the effect is at times dizzying for the audience, this accurately reflects Adam’s dizzying quest. Moreover, the play’s interwoven frames of reference—as Adam begins living the story he is told—are nicely echoed in the versatility of the actors who, except for Adam, play anywhere between three and seven roles each.

But when performed, the acting proves shallow. With so many characters, the cast cannot engage with any particular one. This was reflected in Friday’s performance. Adam, played by Samson Kohansky, was by far the best performer of the night. His success was not only due to his own talent, but also to his character, the most developed and only constant one in the play. Kohansky, a Brandeis senior, gave a strong performance, holding the play together while several other cast members were stumbling over their lines.

Regardless, Friday’s performance was not without its memorable moments, most of which were thanks to Nicholas B. Krasney ’09. He played each of his ridiculous characters with ironic gusto—the only way Bunin’s characters are tolerable. He was particularly amusing as the gryphon, a bird-like creature that eats newborns in the village and kills his attackers. Krasney, as the vicious gryphon, sat in a balcony over the stage, which was set as a comfortable library. Krasney in a gryphon mask while drinking tea was a hilarious spectacle.

HRST’s actual production of “The World Over” was very impressive, particularly the set design by Thalassa G. Raasch ’09. The ship, with which some of Adam’s travels take place, was extremely well constructed, even beautiful. At the beginning of the play, a map of some of Adam’s travels was projected onto the ship’s white sails. This extremely professional construction proved useful throughout the play, particularly during the hurricane scene that HRST impressively portrayed at the end of the first act.

“The World Over” was a strange choice for HRST. It is unfortunate to see their numerous talents—in both production and acting—wasted on such a ridiculous play.

The show runs through Saturday, July 28, at the Loeb Experimental Theatre.

—Reviewer Giselle Barcia can be reached at gbarcia@fas.harvard.edu.