Playwright: David Greig
At: Collaboraction at Chopin Theatre
Phone: ( 312 ) 226-9633; $25
Runs through: Dec. 11
The historic Giacomo Casanova ( 1725-1798 ) was a picaresque rogue—spy, lottery official, librarian—who was expelled from seminary at 16 for scandalous behavior and thereafter lived up to his bad reputation. Casanova's name has become the byword for a wanton but charming romancer of women.
David Greig's Casanova, in its North American premiere, presents the lustful schemer differently through a contemporary setting and a focus on the idea of Casanova instead of biography. What's the abstract meaning, the spiritual meaning of a man's devotion to the pursuit and seduction of women? To emphasize the abstraction, the title character never is called by name but always 'you,' 'he' or 'him'.
Neither young nor attractive, Greig's Casanova wins women with remarkable ease. 'My sexual success,' he remarks, 'proves the triumph of content over form.' His content, in addition to sexual skill and vast appetite, is honesty and lack of complication. He's attracted to almost every woman, and in him every woman can see reflected her own desirability, even if she doesn't believe it. Casanova says 'My life is a work of art ... a work of art must have an ending, and my life isn't over yet.' For him, sex is a life-affirming denial of mortality. A woman's eyes tell him 'We're going to die, but not yet.'
In opposition Greig offers a stolid Scots cabinetmaker, a conventionally decent man whose wife left him after a Casanova romp. In fact, the cabinetmaker is smothering and controlling, exactly what Casanova isn't. Casanova offers physical pleasure without demanding or providing love, commitment or a future. His intense, passionate and self-effacing pursuit of women without embarrassment is powerful and flattering.
Those who shape the play around Casanova are conventional as the cabinetmaker. One way or another they want Casanova's life, either literally ( the cabinetmaker plots to murder him ) or figuratively ( a gallery owner plans an exhibit about him and his 1,000 conquests ) . By play's end they put an end to Casanova's work of art.
This rich and worldly comedy of ideas must be bawdy without being vulgar or creepy. That's a neat trick which this production—under bright, young director Kimberly Senior—does perfectly. The forceful yet soothing presence of Larry Neumann, Jr. as Casanova belies his ordinary looks and slight physique. His eyes hold you remarkably. Opposite him Sarah Delgado sparkles as the universal sexpot, making quicksilver changes to play many women. Deep support is provided by Scott Kennedy as the cabinetmaker ( with an authentic Scott's burr ) , Carolyn Hoerdemann as the gallery owner, and Kathleen Logelin as the Casanova documentarian who becomes a conquest. The scenic design ( Geoff Curley ) features approximately 5,000 photos of women. But it's not about the sex. Really.