So yeah, I can quibble with the director’s, focus but Catch-22 is sleek, trim, and solid. When the General keeps upping the mission quota the soldiers need to reach before they can be shipped out, and demands that everyone go to battle in full uniform to impress the enemy, you realize that we are no longer in fantasy land. This is too insane not to be true. Soldiers would rather die in hospital than be killed; bombers age because they are seconds away from death every time they report for duty; the God no one believes in is a just God. In case there is any doubt, the pre-show and intermission filler is a short film on How to Fly a B-25 with background war music like Ethel Merman warbling We’ll Be Singing Halleluiah Marching Through Berlin. Not a combination I had witnessed before.
Aquila Theatre escorts us down into the depths, pokes us till we laugh, and ends on a tiny note of hope. World War II is not so distant. Catch-22 spans the years and points us to Iraq, Afghanistan, Mumbai – if we are willing to look. This is masterful storytelling.
Catch-22 – by Joseph Heller, Adapted and Directed by Peter Meineck. Featuring Mark Alhadeff, Teddy Alvaro, David Bishins, Chip Brookes, Emily Cardea, John Lavelle, Christina Pumariega, Richard Sheridan Willis and Craig Wroe. Design by Peter Meineck. Movement by Desiree Sanchez. Sound Design by Mark Sanders. Production Manager Nate Terracio. Production Stage Manager Cat Coffey. Continues through Dec. 20 at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, New York, (212) 279-4200.
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