Holiday, Arena Stage, Washington, DC

 

Todd Scofield (Edward Seton), Baize Buzan (Linda Seton), Olivia Hebert (Julia Seton), Sean Wiberg (Johnny Case), and John Austin (Ned Seton) in Holiday running October 7 through November 6, 2022 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman.

The current offering at Washington’s Arena Stage is Holiday, a 1928 play by Philip Barry. The Artistic Director’s note on the play emphasizes that it is a romantic comedy. She reminds us that the 1938 film starred Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, who would reunite in the 1940 film “The Philadelphia Story” (in which they were joined by Jimmy Stewart), also based on a Philip Barry play.

Yes, there is romance and comedy, but there is more to it than that. It occurred to me that the play is really a comedy of manners. Because it has been many years since I studied (and then taught) theatre history, I wanted to make certain that my memory was correct as to what, exactly, is meant by “comedy of manners.” Thanks to Google (how did we ever live without it?), according to the Britannica website (britannica.com/art/ comedy-of-manners), I was on point:

[Comedy of manners is a] witty, cerebral form of dramatic comedy that depicts and often satirizes the manners and affectations of a contemporary society. A comedy of manners is concerned with social usage and the question of whether or not characters meet certain social standards. Often the governing social standard is morally trivial but exacting. The plot of such a comedy, usually concerned with an illicit love affair or similarly scandalous matter, is subordinate to the play’s brittle atmosphere, witty dialogue, and pungent commentary on human foibles.

Witty, cerebral, satire, social standards? Yup. Comedy of manners, indeed: something beyond a simple “romantic comedy.” Think about some of the plays by Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, etc. Let's poke some fun at the upper (moneyed) class.

Shortly before Christmas 1928, Julia Seton has returned from a vacation at Lake Placid, where in whirlwind fashion she met and fell in love with Johnny Case. Johnny is unaware of Susan’s family’s wealth until he visits their New York home. Julia is anxious to be married, but after her father learns of Johnny’s meager background and despite his current success as a Wall Street lawyer, he decides that Johnny is a gold-digger and not to be trusted. Johnny expresses his desire to, once he has amassed $25,000 (remember, it’s 1928), take a “holiday” by stopping work until his funds run out, requiring that he return. In other words, he wants to retire while he is young, then go back to work. During the play, Johnny learns that an investment of his has created just the amount he wanted, hence he is not (and never would have been) dependent on Julia for support. In the process, he finds out that Julia is no different than her father, wanting a “traditional” spouse who will work and provide her with the finer things she has come to expect. (By the end of that year, of course, anything made on Wall Street will have disappeared. These characters are blissfully unaware that such a thing is possible.)

Julia’s older sister, Linda, something of a “wild child,” is the only one of the family who can understand and appreciate Johnny’s plan, though several friends also provide support. By the end of Act II, it is obvious that Johnny is with the wrong sister, and although Linda and Johnny share an illicit kiss, she fails to see that her sister Julia is the wrong choice (and she is the right one) until the last minute. “Happily ever after” is possible only when following one’s heart triumphs over commitment to capitalistic drudgery, where making money is the goal and not a means to a pleasant end – or at least, a “holiday.” (That the play takes place around Christmas and New Year’s is coincidental as the play’s title is not tied to the calendar.)

The play may resonate with many in this post-pandemic world who have reassessed their goals, perhaps taking their own “holiday.”

Arena’s production includes some excellent performances, with high production values. There are laughs from the audience, but they are tentative, not full-throated, often coming from the actors’ physicalizations rather than the dialogue. The play’s slow pacing diminishes the effectiveness of the script’s wit and the inclusion of two lengthy intermissions made the performance seem longer than it was. (The two intermissions were listed in the program as 10 minutes in length; during the performance I attended, the first lasted approximately 16 minutes and the second approximately the same.)

Olivia Hebert conveyed the proper sense of entitlement and sophistication required for Julia and enjoyed a nice chemistry and contrast with Sean Wiberg as Johnny, who plays the role with sincerity. Linda’s love for and loyalty to her sister are effectively mastered by Baize Buzan, who also embodies a certain eccentricity and strong will. John Austin has nice moments (many of them physical) as Ned, the over-imbibing brother to Julia and Linda. Todd Scofield as Edward Seton, the father, provides a sure-handed portrait of a man whose ideals will be embraced by one child (Julia) and rejected by his other two children (Linda and Ned). I enjoyed the warmth and humor brought by Ahmad Kamal and Regina Aquino as insightful friends Nick and Susan Potter.

I am always amazed at how Arena productions effectively create different environments. In this instance, we are in the well-to-do environments (designed by Misha Kachman) of a third-floor drawing room in the Seton home (for Acts I and III) and a top floor where mementos (an oversized doll house, a rocking horse, etc.) of the siblings’ childhoods are stored, with the stairway coming up from the floor below. (One of the reasons for the lengthy intermissions is the time it took the stage crew to make the scene change.) I though the original set was attractive and serviceable, but the second act set’s changes in floor height did not particularly make sense. (It also seemed to me that something might have helped convey that we were in a more crowded, lower-ceilinged attic-like space.)  

More effective were the witty costume designs by Ivania Stack and the lighting design by Pablo Santiago. The sound design by Daniel Erdberg was sometimes problematic. Admittedly Arena is a tricky space, but an audience missing words in a comedy based on wit causes the audience to fall back into focusing on the plot rather than the effervescence of the language.

Effervescence, I think, is what the play was missing. Champagne that has gone flat may still taste good, but without the bubbles, it is just not the same. Many of the elements of a successful comedy of manners were in evidence, but director Anita Maynard-Losh, unfortunately, was unable to bring them all together. A focus on pacing and the language, I think, would have helped lift this romantic comedy into the realm of a true comedy of manners.