Catch As Catch Can
Heller's seminal work preceded Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 (1969), equally brilliant black comedies illustrating war's insanity for a country that emerged from World War II's noble sacrifices only to face the Cold War doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction and the televised torments of Vietnam.
We must laugh to keep from crying.
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The Curio Theatre resurrects Heller's problematic stage adaptation of Catch-22, using a talented sextet — all (save Drew Petersen as Captain Yossarian) playing a dizzying plethora of roles — to reveal the novel's many amusing characters. Major Major (Paul Kuhn) only allows visitors when he's out. Hypochondriac Dr. Cathcart (Liam Castellan) is mistakenly pronounced dead by the War Department, to his wife and mother-in-law's delight. Milo Minderbinder (C.J. Keller) sells military supplies to fund his All-American get-rich-quick schemes. The Chaplain (Ken Opdenaker) wrestles with his conscience while censoring soldiers' letters home. Nurse Duckett (Jennifer Summerfield) comforts Yossarian, lying in wait for a marriageable doctor.
Yossarian is haunted by tail gunner Snowden's death, a horrifying event that powerfully frames the novel but lacks impact in director Jared Reed's production. The fault lies more in Heller's adaptation, which aims for quantity (in Act 2 especially, characters are introduced and quickly killed off, while Yossarian disappears for long stretches) rather than quality.
Reed moves the play briskly, though, on Kuhn's set, a colorfully absurd backdrop for wheeled furniture, and his versatile cast makes each character distinct. Heller's grimly witty insights ring true today: "They're not going to send a crazy man to get killed, are they?" asks Yossarian, his insanity finally confirmed. "Who else are they going to send?" his psychiatrist replies.
Catch-22 — more satisfying in Mike Nichols' 1970 film adaptation, and truly masterful on the page — has particular resonance now. One can imagine current-day interrogators asking, "Why are we questioning you if you're not guilty?" or accusing suspects of "crimes we don't even know about yet." The young Curio Theatre Company, launching their second season, bravely accepts the challenge to tell this story on stage, doing it as well as Heller's script allows.
Through Oct. 28,Curio Theatre Company,48th St. and Baltimore Ave.,215-525-1350, www.curiotheatre.org
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