J.D. Salinger apparently had it right: His rule of refusing all requests to dramatize “The Catcher in the Rye” should probably be applied to “Catch-22” as well.
The failed attempts to adapt Joseph Heller’s classic 1961 anti-war novel include Mike Nichols’ 1970 film version and a stage version written by Heller himself that went nowhere. And now there’s a third – this one by the enterprising Aquila Theatre Company. Adapted, directed and designed by Peter Meineck, this “Catch-22” is extremely faithful to the source material, which depicts the nightmarish dilemma faced by Yossarian (John Lavelle), a bombardier stationed in Italy during World War II.
Sick of going out on yet another bombing mission (“I’d rather die than be killed”), he claims insanity. But, as “Catch-22” points out, anyone who doesn’t want to risk his life clearly isn’t crazy.
Meineck’s adaptation unsuccessfully attempts to condense the sprawling narrative, with its huge cast of characters, while preserving its essential themes.
But the book’s madcap looniness doesn’t translate well to the stage. Instead, it lurches from episode to episode without translating the action into compelling theatrical terms.
The major characters are all there, including the dimwitted Col. Cathcart (David Bishins), the rapacious war profiteer Milo Minderbinder (Chip Brookes) and the hapless military shrink Major Sanderson (Richard Sheridan Willis).
But despite some imaginative touches – Yossarian’s flying missions are presented in an effectively minimalist manner – the production is more lumbering than satisfactorily absurd.
The members of the eight-person ensemble – playing nearly two dozen characters – are often adrift trying to find the right comic tone. And Lavelle, who bravely bares himself in a lengthy full-frontal nude scene, conveys Yossarian’s frustration but not his neurotic intensity.
Maybe the catch in “Catch-22” is that, for all its brilliance, it simply belongs on the page.
CATCH-22
Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St.; 212-279-4200. Through Dec. 20.