Eric Riviera speaking in Anatol VS

A man obsessed with himself and his conquests. And the women afflicted by his very amorous efforts.

Meet Anatol, a man ‘weighing 165 pounds of dysfunction, manipulation and competitiveness’. A man so self-centered, he can’t even realize the implications of his simulataneous love affairs. A man as much a victimizer as he is a victim of his own device.

And he doesn’t make it easier for anyone interested in providing him an elegant excuse or a way out of the label of sex addict. One of his lines in this play easily summarizes his opinion of women: “Women are only good for two things. I don’t even know what the second one is”.

So the play –an adaptation by Leandro Flint Esquerra from an Arthur Schnitzler’s classic- moves along these lines: Anatol and Cora, Anatol and Gabriella, Anatol and Bianca, Anatol and Annie, Anatol and… you get the idea.

Newly adapted and with the dialogue ‘juiced up’ according to the producers, Anatol Versus chronicles the life of a womanizer and his hilarious ‘existential crisis’ which derive from his excessive and exhausting woman-hunting activities.

Originally written by Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler in the early 1800’s, the play has been re-adapted by L. Flint Esquerra and many features have been ‘modernized’ to suit today’s audience.

Following the Met’s Theatre irreverent tradition, this new adaptation of the Schnitzler classic revisits all the typical male/female conflicts while sprucing up the dialogue to make it resonate with modern audiences. As you come into the theater’s lobby and enter the auditorium, a huge picture announcing the play sits elegantly on top of a black table. Next to the play’s banner: four immaculate red boxing gloves.

You’ve always known that love is a match but the actors in this play are here to prove it.

Credit goes to the Met Theater and Esquerra for the interesting dialogue twists added to this somewhat somber play. Instead of a straightforward male/female critique, the new adaptation is presented with all the visual cues one expects from a Boxing Match –including a gorgeous bikini-wearing Asian ring girl who introduces both the scene number and the name of the next Anatol lover-.

At the end, constantly whistled to and bothered by a chauvinistic man in the audience (a part of the cast as we find out at the end) the beautiful ring girl cries foul to the spectators and complains about being misled into the play. “In reality I thought I was part of an ‘intellectual’ play” she clamors.

Esquerra’s new adaptation is presented as a ‘match’ between the main character, Anatol and his many lovers, (seven in total, all played by the remarkable Lisa Welti).

The dialogue is sharp throughout the play and the speed of the scenes makes it feel much shorter than it really is. Perhaps due to the many different theatrical styles or approaches sometimes the acting feels slightly over the top. This could be a perfectly calculated move since the irreverence of the play itself is meant to shake people’s preconceptions about what’s viable in theatre.

For example, in several scenes, different actors vie for the public’s support and applause and even stop the play and address the stage manager with questions such as: “What was supposed to happen next mister Stage Manager?”… A deep voice from the back of the theater provides an answer followed by a derisive “… Actor”.

Yet in other sequences, some of the actors stop the music and ask for it to be changed while they execute a choreographed dance for several minutes. Even the famous Spanish Pop Group Mocedades is played over the PA system when one of the Spanish speaking actors takes center stage.

While truly innovative and impeccable in its dialogue adaptation, the play feels flat in some mid-sections. Astonishingly, all seven female characters are played by the same actress –Lisa Welti- who’s truly the highlight of the show. Eric Riviera, the actor playing Anatol is given the best lines of dialogue but body language and repertoire shortcomings make it difficult for him to pull off every one of his scenes. This is not to say that he ever disappoints. Besides, how much sympathy can you gather when you portray on stage a mixed version of Donald Trump and Tommy Lee?

All supporting actors throw in their own contribution to round off this play and bring it to a tight end. Loose midsections aside, the play is still bold enough in its dialogue and overall execution to spark hearty laughter from the audience throughout the play.

What’s the name of nymphomania when it pertains to a guy? I’m not versed enough to know, but in Anatol Versus, an answer is attempted.

I’ll say it differently. The whole play is a h(e)int…