Demonic Bargain

By WILLIAM A. HENRY III

TEMPTATION by Vaclav Havel

When New York City's Public Theater produced his The Memorandum in 1968, Vaclav Havel sat in the audience. But by the time his The Increased Difficulty of Concentration was mounted the following year, the Soviets had marched into his native Czechoslovakia, and Havel was no longer able to travel. His works have been banned from Czech stages. For his human-rights activism, he has repeatedly been jailed. This week, when the Public opened his Temptation, Havel was serving an eight-month sentence for "incitement" and "a public order misdemeanor" during a peaceful demonstration in January protesting the legacy of the Soviet invasion.

Temptation is the fourth of Havel's plays to be staged at the Public; a fifth, Slum Clearance, is scheduled later this year. Unfortunately, the Public's loyalty does not always result in illuminating productions. Temptation retells the Faust legend and evolves into a grimly believable portrait of life in a police state. This scientist who dabbles in black magic reaps only petty pleasures, while his demonic bargain leads him to mistrust friends, denounce colleagues, deny his beliefs and pledge to become a spy. Director Jiri Zizka, a Czech emigre, adds a mysterious high-tech gloss but stints on emotion. So do most of the cast, especially the bloodless David Strathairn in the lead. Still, beneath the expressionistic spectacle is an intimate, heartfelt and understandably angry play. W.A.H. III