The Ballets Russes and its impresario, Sergei Diaghilev, is the subject matter for Terrence McNally’s latest play, Fire and Air. He is the winner of four Tony Awards for the plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and his musical books for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. So Mr. McNally has covered demanding artists, gay relationships and period pieces before. The Classic Stage Company is presenting the world premiere of Fire and Air, with direction and scenic design by John Doyle (Broadway’s Sweeney Todd, The Visit, The Color Purple).
Legendary for its influence on art and dance from 1909 – 1929, Sergei Diaghilev galvanized the Paris art scene and engaged his talented circle of Russian èmigrès. A super mogul, artists who secured Diaghilev’s approval were poised to take on a near-cult like following. In 1912, Vaslav Nijinski (James Cusati-Moyer) choreographed and performed the controversial and erotic ballet, The Afternoon of a Faun, to widespread acclaim. Nijinski and Diaghilev were lovers but when the young protégé married while on tour in 1913, he was dropped by the company. This relationship and the outsized personalities of these two individuals serve as the basis for Act I. The second Act explores the relationship with the next protégé, Leonide Massine (Jay Armstrong Johnson, superb).
Watching a play about an older Artistic Director playing Svengali to young men is more disturbing in our current climate of #MeToo. So why is this play never more than interesting? Douglas Hodge (La Cage Aux Folles) plays the driven Diaghilev not as dandyish, haughty and aristocratic as I might have imagined him. In addition to the two dancers, there are three associates/friends (John Glover, Marin Mazzie and four-time Academy Award nominee Marsha Mason) who really don’t have enough to do. That they sit on stage now and then for no discernible reason just distracts from this small character play. For me, the subject matter was far more fascinating than the performances (fine), the play (good, if sketchy) and the staging (underwhelming). Fire and Air is timely though and a thought-provoking piece of a historically significant and influential artistic period.