Don Juan Comes Back From The War

DON JUAN COMES BACK FROM THE WAR

Don Juan’s life and death furnish no plea for the pleasures of promiscuity. Nor do the two best-known dramatic treatments of the legend, Lorenzo da Ponte’s libretto for Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the “Don Juan in Hell” episode from Shaw’s Man and Superman. (Though Shaw, with typical perversity, sends him off to heaven.)

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Don Juan Comes Back From the War, by the Hungarian-born German playwright Odon von Horvath (1901- 1938), is another sardonic take on the philanderer’s fate. A 90-minute script rich with terse scenes that flow quickly if not smoothly, this protofeminist version of the legend underlines the hollowness of love talk. The play’s disillusionment and irony reflect Horvath’s favorite theme–the sadness of life and the treacherous sentimentality under which people hide their intentions.

This is BNC Production’s second offering, in a crisp translation by Christopher Hampton, adaptor of Les liaisons dangereuses. The production radiates Horvath’s dark humor and draws fine performances from an ensemble of eight women who play 35 roles.