The Cradle Will Rock
The Cradle Will Rock
By Marc Blitzstien
Directed by Alan Bruun
Starring Ame Livingston and Stephan Jones
Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando FL</strong>
If theatre is the medicine for a sick society, this show might be cod liver oil – good for you, but sometimes hard to swallow. In the disarray of the Great Depression the Works Progress Administration attempted to find relevant work for the displaced, rather than giving direct handouts. The logic was better to have men raking leaves upwind than fomenting revolution. The Federal Theatre Project was part of the WPA, and commissioned this work which became a blunt call to unionism and the repeal of capitalism. The back story of “The Cradle Will Rock” is more interesting than the play itself – with production suppressed by the FTP, the actors forbidden to appear on stage, and the theatre invaded by soldiers, director Orson Wells and Producer John Houseman moved the whole show to a venue, delaying opening by almost an hour, and staged it from the seats and balconies, thereby evading the prohibition of On Stage appearance by the actors.
So what got everyone undies in a bunch? In Steeltown, family names indicate profession – Dr. Specialist (Jonathan Lang), Editor Daily (Bret Carson), union organizer Larry Forman (Jones), and Gus and Sadie Pollock (Mellissa Mason and Todd Alan Long). It saves on exposition, and even the evil capitalist mill owner (Joe Reed) and his wife (Janine Papin) are just Mr. & Mrs. Mister. The Unions are driving to organize the mills, and goons and bombings and violent strike breakers make this as close to civil war as we’ve seen in the 20th century. The pure hearts and united masses of the steel works overwhelms venal Mr. Mister, but there are casualties along the way – Gus Pollack and Harry Druggist’s son (Mather Schwartz) die, and artists Dauber (Jones) and pianist Yasha (Almeida) sell their souls for a bowl of soup. The steel mill may be a closed shop, but anyone can play piano or compose an aria.
The acting takes us far beyond the cardboard story: Jones’s call to action is the stuff that makes you stand up and march, even if you’re not sure where. Moll is pure of heart and seems genuine apologetic when she offers her body, but Mrs. Mister shows no similar remorse. Mr. Mister didn’t have that may lines, but he delivered them with the energy and authority of Big Daddy Warbucks and Rev Salvation (Eric Nicholas Bridges) had the distant arrogance only the truly holy can muster. The music in this musical seems purpose designed to lack humabilty, and always sounds a bit off key. Gus and Sadie have a nice duet, and a strong energy keeps things moving along, but I suspect the intention is to capture the mistuned sound of a $5 piano.
I see parallels between “The Cradle Will Rock” and “Our Town.” Both are set on nearly empty sets and emphasize staginess over realism, and both revel in the small decisions and chance events than make life. In “Our Town” all paths leads to a calm serenity in the graveyard, but in “Cradle” it leads to martyrdom for ideals. In both Steeltown and Our Town the choice is not free, it is cast on you by fate, and both are propaganda pieces for differing American Ideals. Propaganda has no sense of irony: We cheer for a pyrrhic Union Victory, but we do it knowing that 50 years later there would be virtually no steel production left in the United States.
For more information on Mad Cow, please visit http://www.madcowtheatre.com
