Playwright: “devised” by the DSC ensemble. At: Devised Shakespeare Company at Gorilla Tango, 1919 N. Milwaukee. Phone: 773-598-4549; $10. Runs through: July 28. Photo courtesy of Hubris Productions
Martin Sherman’s famous 1979 play is sensational rather than good (and less sensational now that it’s 30 years old), although its subject matter remains potent. A man’s journey towards acceptance of who and what he is, and the learning of self-sacrifice for love, are timeless themes carved in high relief by the specific time and place of Bent—Germany under the Nazis.
For any readers unfamiliar with the story, it concerns Max, a gay party boy in 1934 Berlin who is snared by Nazi who are “bent” sexually) and sent to a concentration camp. At the camp, Max works “a deal” to wear the yellow star of a Jew rather than the despised pink triangle of “a queer.” His crucible begins when he befriends pink triangle Horst, whom we would describe today as out and proud. But Max’s journey to the camp, which takes most of Act I, is both episodic and problematic as Max and his doomed boyfriend, a dancer named Rudy, are insufferably shallow and stupid. In making them 1930s circuit boys, Sherman couldn’t have made them any more dismissible, although Max does display loyalty.
Regrettably, this production amplifies the Act I weaknesses. Director Jacob Christopher Green interprets Rudy (actor Michael Shepherd) as a petulant, juvenile, whiney queen. Rudy isn’t a bright bulb, but there are other ways to approach his character, any one of which would have been better. Also, club owner Greta—a drag queen—performs a song in a key too low for actor Travis Walker, thereby robbing it of effectiveness.
Act II is better written and performed, largely a “pas de deux” for Max (Christopher Kauffmann) and Horst (Jason Ober) as they endlessly move rocks from one pile to another, and use the power of words and imagination alone to have sex and to fall in love. The script makes clear that—under threat of Nazi guards—they never touch until the final moments when death is closing in, and that they must not look at each other when talking, but director Green breaks both conceits. Max and Horst look at each other constantly and also literalize an embrace they only are imagining. The clinch provides a feeling moment but undercuts what should be a nearly-unbearable tension. The audience wants them to embrace, which is why they must not as the audience, too, must live the moment only in its imagination.
Jason Ober as Horst takes top acting honors with his wry smile and confidence. He also pulls Kauffmann (as Max) up to his level, which is essential if Bent is to work. For his part, Kauffmann makes Max’s spiritual journey a convincing one. “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.”