TheatreZone/ Productions/ Past Productions/ The Firebugs

The Firebugs
by Max Frisch

TheatreZone presents The Firebugs by Max Frisch in a unique collaboration with Ensemble Warhol, an international contemporary classical music group specializing in music composed for the theatre. Showcasing an original score, searing comedic style, and a Greek chorus of dancing firemen, The Firebugs lights a blazing torch to keep you warm in the December cold.

A mysterious stranger appears on the doorstep of wealthy hair-tonic salesman Gottlieb Biedermann. He insinuates himself into the manąs home even as Biedermann rants against the arsonists who ravage their city spreading fear and paranoia. The stranger and his suave partner in crime use Biedermannąs own vanity and bourgeois guilt against him, and boldly flaunt their fiery intentions while making themselves honored guests in Biedermannąs home.

Written in the aftermath of World War II, The Firebugs posits that those who proclaim their dedication to Decency and Integrity the loudest are, in their actions, often the most unfamiliar with the concepts, and asks: What duty do we have to confront evil in our midst or in our name? And if we fail to act, what responsibility do we bear for the ensuing carnage?

Max Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist and, together with Friedrich Durrenmatt, is considered one of the most influential Swiss writers of the 20th century. As a young architect and journalist during World War II, Frisch was assigned to guard Switzerland's border with Nazi Germany, and only a few feet within the safety of his neutral country he began to ponder the horror that was consuming Europe. How was the insanity of Hitler's regime allowed to reach this extremity? Was he in some way responsible? Why do we seem unable to learn from the past?

December 8-23, 2005

Starring: Starring: Vladimir Aseneta, Paul S. Benford-Bruce, Mike Budwey, Rick Carpenter, Santio Cupon, Bill Doscher, Tiyana Fox-Portis, Timothy Hoover, Stacie Kincade, Stephen Libby, Lorna McKenzie, Flavia Steiner, Floyd Richardson, Anna Waldron

Original Music by Ensemble Warhol
Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques & Atissa Banuazizi
Choreographer: Matt Kossack
Stage Managers: Marcela Jaramillo & Ed Roche
Set Design- Julia Noulin-Merat
Costume Designer- Deborah Hobson
Props: Ed Roche & Rachel Moliere
House Managers- Elizabeth Kurtz & Ida Rudolf

BOSTON GLOBE REVIEW

TheaterZone's 'Firebugs' crackles with political relevance

By Gina Perille, Globe Correspondent | December 17, 2005

CHELSEA -- Max Frisch's 1950s play ''The Firebugs" is a fiery denouncement of apathy disguised as tolerance. The TheatreZone production, codirected by Atissa Banuazizi and Danielle Fauteux Jacques, captures the absurdity inherent in this work, while making its concerns utterly contemporary.
The main character, Gottlieb Biedermann, is a hair tonic manufacturer who allows two ne'er-do-wells to settle into his attic at a time when the neighborhood is struggling with incidents of arson. The two arrivals -- the firebugs, a.k.a. arsonists -- openly discuss their fascination with fire, fill Biedermann's attic with gas, and ultimately rely on him to provide the match, literally and figuratively.
Frisch's firebugs are stand-ins for whatever social or political malevolence may face a person or society at a given time. And Biedermann is the befuddled Everyman, confused by the facts before him and unwilling to confront a situation he is actively exacerbating. Frisch wrote the play after World War II, during which he served as a Swiss Army officer. Today, the firebugs could represent terrorists, tax cuts, or other hot topics.
Bill Doscher is well suited to the role of Biedermann, although his panicked tone sometimes doesn't match his refusal to acknowledge the activities taking place under his own roof. Floyd Richardson is a physically daunting Sepp Schmitz, a former wrestler and the first of the firebugs to arrive. Richardson easily switches from gentle giant to hardened criminal in accordance with his manipulations. Things really begin to click when Stephen Libby arrives as Willi Eisenring, the second, more polished firebug. Libby brings an unexpected warmth and instant credibility to the firebugs. He masters an eerie smoothness that makes Willi the colder and crueler of the pair.Flavia Steiner plays Anna, the exasperated maid, whose strained relationship with Biedermann serves as a comedic resource as well as a window into his unenlightened treatment of people from different classes. Fauteux Jacques plays the uneasy Babette, wife to Biedermann, in conflict with her instincts and her duty to support her husband's decisions.
''The Firebugs" features a chorus of yellow-jacket-clad firefighters who observe, lament, and predict Biedermann's choices through speech and a kind of athletic and urgent stomp dancing. The chorus tends to be more visually than aurally appealing.
The Biedermann home is at the center of a multilevel set; designer Julia Noulin-Merat uses bright red platforms to mark the stage's periphery, with a ladder up to a second level to indicate the attic. There are no curtains to speak of, nor any attempt to disguise the workings of the theater; even the artist responsible for the sound cues is in plain view. It's a fitting look for a production dedicated to exposing human limitations and shining a light on self-delusion.