A ‘Flag’ is boring

“A Flag Is Born” has not been produced in 56 years.After seeing American Century Theater’s torpid production of Ben Hecht’s screed about the need for a Jewish homeland, you can only conclude that some works wither in obscurity for a reason.

The playwright has been celebrated for his wry contributions to “The Front Page,” “The Twentieth Century” and umpteen movie classics (“Strangers on a Train,” “A Farewell to Arms,” “Stagecoach,” “Scarface” and “Gone With the Wind,” to name a few).

Fans of Mr. Hecht’s quick, sharp wit may be surprised by the lead-sinker quality of “A Flag Is Born,” which is unabashed agitprop from start to finish. Mr. Hecht was not alone in his cause, as the Broadway production also boasted incidental music by Kurt Weill and featured movie star Paul Muni as well as a then-unknown Marlon Brando.

Funded in 1946 by an organization called the American League for a Free Palestine (which was heavily financed by an underground Jewish militia embroiled in violent action against Great Britain under the leadership of Menachem Begin), “A Flag Is Born” was engineered to build support for the resettlement of Jews in Palestine. The play’s Broadway run incited mass sympathy — it was reported that audience members fell weeping to the aisles during an impassioned speech by a Treblinka survivor asking, “Where were you?” when Jews were being killed by the Nazis.

You want to weep during American Century’s revival, but for different reasons. Whatever strong emotions the original 1947 production aroused have been lost to the ages. Instead, the audience has to endure a one-act dose of NyQuil that is distinguished only for its uniformly bad acting and staging that would make the Ice Age seem like a quickie.

It is horrifying to think that the aftermath of the Holocaust and the plight of the survivors forced into displaced-persons camps could make your eyes glaze over, but that’s what “A Flag Is Born” does. Much of the blame might be placed on the script, written in the saturated language of a pageant or propaganda piece. Nuance is verboten; the emphasis is placed instead on a stiff declamatory style and overwrought symbolism that becomes ridiculous after awhile. There are characters named France (Sara Barker), England (Rebecca Dreyfuss) and the USA (Genevieve James). Enough said.

The sliver of a plot centers on a character named Tevye (Joel Snyder), who embodies every Jewish stereotype, and his wife, Zelda (Annie Houston). They are survivors trying to get to Palestine, but they keep getting lost and being turned back. As David (Keith Warren), another displaced person, points out, “First, you must cross a bridge. It is the Bridge of Cunning and Fortitude.” Yes, but he fails to mention that before that is the Road to Tedium and a detour through the Tunnel of Monotony.

In the course of the play, Tevye hallucinates, naturally, in the Old Testament. His symbolism-laden dreams involve King David (Andy Tonken), Saul (Shane Wallis) and Solomon (Darius Suziedelis), all of whom give travel advice. There also is a visitation from the Angel of Death (who bears a striking resemblance to a giant wad of Kleenex), and not a moment too soon.

Mr. Hecht’s starchy passion cannot entirely be blamed for this fiasco. Director Steven Scott Mazzola has assembled a cast of astonishing mediocrity, starting with the one-note kvetch of Mr. Snyder as Tevye, a character whose emotional range begins and ends with “oy.” Miss Dreyfuss is notable for her egregious English accent, as is Miss James in her painful portrayal of the USA as a pistol-packing cowpoke with a Texas twang.

“A Flag Is Born” may have been an interesting footnote in theatrical history, but as a play, it flies at half-mast.

WHAT: “A Flag Is Born” by Ben Hecht

WHERE: American Century Theater, Theater II, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Through April 24.

TICKETS: $20 to $26

PHONE: 703/553-8782