Despite initial concern, the cast rise to the occasion

Derek Wall
A&E Editor

The Cambrian players’ latest offering, Arms and the Man (AATM), by George Bernard Shaw, is a well handled and well executed staging of a classic.
Having had he opportunity to talk to some of the actors before the opening of the show, I was aware that the delivery of Shaw’s wordy and somewhat elegant text was a cause for concern for the performers. Happily, the actors delivered the text clearly and comfortably making the classical dialogue heighten the enjoyment of the performance rather than bog it down.
There was some clever play with the dialogue present, in fact. Whereas Jason Boesche’s portrayal of Nicola, the servant, seemed to savor each and every word he spoke, Bryan MacLoed’s Bluntschli dared to toss away and underplay the odd Shaw line here and there. I felt this was a success for the cast of AATM because each character had a distinct voice and they completely sidestepped the trap that many acting troupes (amateur and professional) tend to fall into with a text heavy, classic script. The text can be regarded as too sacred and as a result of all the actors carefully and deliberately executing each and every word, the spoken aspect takes on the quality of a rhythmic metronome and monotony ensues.
This was not the case at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday night, thankfully, and the audience was fully invited to enjoy in the satire and hilarity of the script. There are no weak links in the casting of this show and each scene clipped along at a good pace.
The show is running for another weekend (March 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th) at The Paramount Theatre so there is still an opportunity to see the production before closing.