UM production of Gogol’s `Marriage’ has pop-culture, collegiate appeal

Ivan Kuzmitch Podkoliosin is tired of being a bachelor. His house is a mess, his clothes are a mess, his hair is a mess. According to the traditional Russian values of 19th century, the man needs a bride. “There’s no sense of order in my life,” he screams to himself and clenches his fists in frustration. Yet when the village matchmaker tells him of Agafya, a potential wife, Podkoliosin can’t quite adapt to the thought of marriage, nor can he escape it.

The prenuptial madness of the matchmaker, Podkoliosin, Agafya, several other suitors, servants, friends and family set the stage for Nikolai Gogol’s sprightly comedy “Marriage,” performed this weekend by Maine Masque at the University of Maine. At every turn, Gogol lampoons marriage as an arena of misery where the self is compromised, and the “other” is merely a commodity. Of course, there’s some unfortunate and biting truth to Gogol’s satire, but mostly the play pokes fun at the incredible hilarity of human behavior.

Although what we finally hear is a translation of the Russian script, the cleverness of Gogol’s language keeps this play interesting and germane nearly 150 years after it was written. Yet, at nearly every turn, UM director Tom Mikotowicz has sacrificed the subtleties of the script for sensationalized effects. He sets the play in modern America, where Stairmasters, compulsive eating, and new-wave pompadours are the norm, and everyone wears high-fashion sneakers because in 1991 you better be ready to run.

A surreal, nightmarish quality permeates the show. The matchmaker wears a huge, wedding cake as her hat. Loud music, including works by Karen Carpenter, Elvis, and the Commodores, blares unexpectedly. And whenever asides are delivered, the speaker snaps his or her fingers to put the onstage cast members into a zombie state.

Audience members are indicted as wedding guests by a cascading white banner that is draped around the entire theater, but also left confused by the director’s attempts at postmodernism. Finally, we must join in Podkoliosin’s cry for order because, try as Mikotowicz may, he is no David Lynch.

Nevertheless, the production does have a certain pop-culture — and collegiate — appeal. The incredibly adept technical crew and gamesomely able cast create an entertaining and fun evening, and deserve a high grade for their work. The most laughs go out to Drew Douglass, whose wild-eyed, weirded-out Podkoliosin is a composite of film and sitcom loonies. Jennifer Dominicci plays a formidable matchmaker, and Michael Chizik, as a pathological servant whose frequently appears with a blade in his hand, is surprisingly understated.

Suitors Nicolas Bresinsky, Sean Cooper, Derik Smith, and Andrew Mansfield (who makes a brief drunken appearance) could have used a little more fine tuning, but in general offer amusing contributions to the show. In the presence of so many exaggerated characters, Leslie Gamble’s popcorn-munching Agafya is a bit bland, and Delia J. Benner’s important role of Podkoliosin’s friend Ilya is a bit too big. More careful direction might have honed the skills of these two actresses.

“Marriage,” by Nikolai Gogol, will be performed 8 p.m. Nov. 23 and 2 p.m. Nov. 24 at the University of Maine Hauck Auditorium. For more information, call 581-1755.