Jacques And His Master
Playwright: Milan Kundera, Based on the novel by Denis Diderot
At: TinFish Productions, 4247 N. Lincoln Ave.
Price: $15
Runs through: Feb 26
Phone: 773/549-1888

     Measuring time is a convenient but utterly artificial proposition.  The start of a new age - a day, a year, a millennium - can date from any moment one chooses, with government leaders particularly fond of declaring the termination of dull pasts and inauguration of glowing futures.  But just as 18th-century French essayist Denis Diderot say the ideals of his country's revolution give way to a social order not unlike the one it replaced, so Czech novelist Milan Kundera saw Communism's lofty principles erode under the pressures of expedience and what is cynically called Human Nature.
     The Major part of Kundera's symposium is structured as a dialogue between his title characters while they journey to a distant village.  The patrician Master and plebeian Jacques recount their individual histories - events inviting discussions of deception, betrayal, sexual intrigue and fraternal loyalty.  A evening's stop at an inn introduces them to a hostess who regales them with a yarn likewise steeped in controversy.  But though the personalities in these parables - dramatized for us in Story Theatre-style - are drawn from very diverse social classes, their actions mirror one another in curious parallels.
     Of course, the truthfulness of the authors (and of the frequently-invoked Author Himself) is at all times questionable, since any of them may alter facts for the benefit of their listeners - even intruding on each others' stories to interrogate a character or complete an unresolved plot detail.  And never during these arguments over the ironies of our universe ate we allowed to forget our own immediate place in it.  ("Why don't we have horses?" asks the footsore Master, nettled by Kundera'a imposition of humbler travel on Diderot's elegant transportation, "Because this is a play!" shrugs his phlegmatic servant.)
     Jacques And His Master is cerebral exercise to break a sweat in the most brain-fit playgoer.  But the company assembled by director Dejan Avramovich for this TinFish production wisely rejects self-indulgent clutter to highlight the text, leading us slowly and cleanly through the maze of Kundera's philosophical explorations and multidimensional presentation  to keep us always oriented in our intellectual environment.
     And what do we learn from our workout?  That fighting the imperfections of this world makes for unhappiness, but embracing its contradictions often proves the best course for everyone.  That this existential confusion is universal.  And that our only hope is to Keep On Keeping On.  As Jacques says, "When none of us know where we are going, every direction is forward".  Small comfort, to be sure, but still welcome at the advent of a new century filled with fearful promise and uncertainty.

                                              - reviewed by Etta L. Worthington

If you like European writing, if you like being challenged a little intellectually and philosophically, then you'll find "Jacques and His Master" an evening well spent.  But don't expect anything fancy.

Based on a novel by 18th-century French philosopher Denis Diderot, this adaptation is Milan Kundera's only published play.  It's a story woven, unwoven and rewoven, and, yes, finally we get the whole tale.  Just when the tale spins more and more away from center, we are pulled back again to the story Jacques has been unsuccessfully trying to tell his master all evening and all over again - how he lost his virginity, then was beaten by his father, joined the regiment, was hit by a bullet in the knee and then fell in love.

This play questions the idea of free will.  In his travels with his master, Jacques regularly refers to the writer who has invented their characters and story and wonders and then decide, no, there is no way of changing what is written.  "Are we well invented," he questions his master.  And later he asks, "Would we be better if we had been invented by someone else?"  But the master cautions him.  "You want a better creator?  That's blasphemous."

But his master continually interrupts Jacques and insists on telling his story of a friendship betrayed, how he was cuckolded and framed by this friend and ultimately forced to support a child who wasn't his own.

The actors form a tight ensemble, but Nate White, as Jacques, stands out.  The audience is divided by the stage, which is disconcerting at scene changes, since there is only one exit.  The lighting is basic and at times distracting, with shadows cast that lend nothing to the play.  But dealing with a host of limitations, director Dejan Avramovich has created an intriguing piece, one well-suited for the educated theatregoer.

Finally, we discover Jacques' tale and the master's are not so different an that their stories are as two sides of a coin, the same story with different outcomes.  The bleak stage mirrors the bleak outlook on life facing Jacques and his master.  Jacques admits he is destined to follow his master's order and lead.  But Jacques is indispensable to his master, and who leads is often a question.  since their story is written on high, all they have to do is go forward, perhaps choosing among a few options.  At the end, Jacques orders his master to lead him forward and claims that "forward is anywhere you look."  But is it?

The simplicity of the story is appealing.  One can forgive the awkward staging and the poorly choreographed fight scene and appreciate TinFish Theatre's choice to present a work with depth and full of questions.