Steven Bennett

Acting 2
Marietta Hedges
10/19/17
The Arsonists Review

On September 30th, I saw a production of The Arsonists by Max Frisch with a new

translation by Alistar Beaton. Directed by Michael John Garcés, the play portrayed a wealthy

husband, wife, and their maid living an everyday life in a community with many random acts of

arson. One day, an odd stranger comes into their home. They are very off put by this, but they

don’t want to be rude, so they let him stay. Days later, he brings in a girl and together they start

putting tanks of gasoline in his attic. The plot unfolds and leaves the audience with the message

that if you say nothing in order to mind your own business, eventually when it happens to you,

you will be all alone with nobody to help you when you need it. There are other messages in the

production that leaves the audience questioning the happenings of the show, but seeing

something and saying nothing seems to be an all- encompassing theme. The plot alone did not

leave the impact on the audience, a lot of the production had to do with the actor’s commitment

to the performance and honesty with the more abstract elements to the storytelling.

It’s hard to describe through text, but there’s a Greek chorus of five members to set up

the scene’s circumstances, but also to play the more abstract and ensemble characters in scenes.

For example, there were many moments where they were screaming “Woe to us!” over and over

at the tops of their lungs in order to portray the suffering public. The main character, George

Betterman, did not listen to the chorus and their pleading, which would eventually lead to his

own demise, but I felt like a lot of the chorus’ choices were too big. It passed the point of

tolerable in my eyes. The screaming and odd fluid gestures across the stage during the play
became distracting and more of bother to me trying to make sense of why they were there most

of the time.

Along the same topic, the two arsonists (Joe Smith and Billie Irons) were playing up the

part of being mentally unstable and generally bizarre people. I felt like the believability in their

acting was lacking for me. Maybe it worked for the extreme characters that they were portraying,

but for me the loud screaming and rolling around the floor felt like it too much and equally

distracting from the already assumptive story to follow along with. I must say that their

dedication to the role was clear. When they were rolling in the food that was set on the table

during a dinner scene, I felt sorry for them but they really convinced me that they were

psychotic. If their actions were not so big I would’ve fallen into their believability more.

The other characters seemed to be clearer (that they were “in the box” characters) but

were very plain in their tactics. Mr. and Ms. Betterman and the maid, Anna played the saner

people in a crazy world. They were more believable to me, but I suppose that is because they

were playing the more natural people in the play. It was frustrating for me to see their attic being

filled with gasoline plus the constant threat of their house being blown up. I was waiting for

them to kick the arsonists out, but the family never did. Their tactics were more of a panicked

kindness to the arsonists. They didn’t want to be rude, but were still very concerned for their

safety and I could see that. At the climax of the play, when the arsonists admitted they were

going to set their house on fire, their reactions were panicked but more accepting, which

confused me. I could’ve used more clarity or justification whether it was in the lines or

physicality. I enjoyed the maid, Anna who seemed to be more of the comic relief in the play. She

had less of a speaking role, so her reactions of annoyance were what made me laugh. I found her
relatable, humorous, and believable as she depicted the overworked/ underappreciated maid.

Overall, the main characters in the family were not as over the top, which was a relief from the

extreme, unstable arsonists, but their performance fell flat in the simplicity of it.

As far as the elements of the production, the set was simple and the use of space was

varied. The stage was set up in a thrust with an upper level used as the attic. There were also

rafters typically used for technical elements such as hanging lights, but the actors were walking

on them. This was mostly for the chorus so that the entire theatre was filled with their loud,

projected sound of chanting “woe to us” or something of the sort. I think what most influenced

me was at the end when the arsonists did set fire to the Betterman’s house, there were bright

flashing lights and loud sirens. This production definitely enjoyed using loud effects and sounds

to leave an impact with the audience. That’s how the play ended. It ended with bright lights and

loud sirens. I was not a fan of the loud speech from the chorus and the arsonists, so the intensity

of sound from the production side did not help either. I just felt it distracted from the story.

I would say that if you enjoy absurdist and abstract theatre than you would enjoy the

show. This may have sounded as though I hated every element of the show, but I did enjoy what

the theme of the show was and what they obviously wanted their audience to walk away with.

The acting had two sides to the spectrum. You have your extreme side which was over the top,

dramatic, and obscure acting which was done by the arsonists. On the other side, you had a more

subdued acting style from the Betterman’s plus the maid. This may be interesting for a viewer

walking in to see the two opposing sides to the acting spectrum. There are elements of both

drama and comedic relief, so if you want a show to trigger the mind, then this is the show for

you.