Big Love

During a critics weekend at the Humana Festival of New American Plays,Big Love was a clear favorite among the offerings.  It's a cleverly designed twist on an ancient Greek tragedy, in which 50 brides conspire to murder their fiances on their wedding night.  In this updated version, playwright Charles Mee uses the framework to wage a modern-day battle of the sexes.  Traces of "Men Are From Mars, Women are from Venus," are evident in the banter between the brides, led by Lydia (Carolyn Baeumler), and the grooms, including Constantine (Mark Zeisler), who is pledged to one of the sisters.  Also weighing in on the male side of the equation is Piero (Fred Major), the owner of an Italian villa where the brides seek freedom from their arranged marriages, supposed to take place the next day.  Both sides play out their stereotypical roles in fascinating ways, which keeps the audience off-balance but engaged throughout.  Several intensely theatrical moments add a touch of the surreal, such as the raging fits that first strike the women, then the men.  If that's not enough to entertain us, the playwright throws in nudity, violence and strong language.

The play opens on an attention-grabbing note, as Lydia strides across the stage, wearing a wedding dress and toting a suitcase.  Wordlessly, she strips naked and hops into a nearby bubble bath.  In the following scenes, the brides seem to be reaching detente.  However, wedding gifts keep arriving, signaling the bloodshed to come.  In the end, love triumphs over all.  Or does it?  Is the playwright saying that romantic love is really a betrayal of family and self?

Musical selections in Big Love are deliciously unexpected, from wedding music to a campy version of the Lesley Gore tune, "You Don't Own Me."  This production includes some fine voices as well as talented acting, making this a memorable wedding confection.  Lydia's sisters (Aimee Guillot and Karenjune Sanchez) show a deft grasp of the play's more comic moments.  The grooms (including Tony Speciale) are athletically superb in several scenes.  One hopes this play finds a future life beyond the Humana festival.