‘Chekhov Or Not’ tells the stories of human limitations.

The audience has only five more opportunities to see Chekhov Or Not in the recently opened Circle Theatre at Golden Bough Playhouse in Carmel. This two-play show (Dr. Kheal by Maria Irene Fornés and Swan Song by Anton Chekhov) is not only a test of this still relatively new, intimate space in the back of the Golden Bough, but also of Pacific Repertory Theatre's new project, Community Voices, that signals the company’s opening for collaborators with talented outsiders. Chekhov Or Not, brought by and co-produced by Paul Barber, who is the main actor in both of the one-acters, is first within the series.

Barber did a decent job, entertaining as mad professor Dr. Kheal, and convincing as egomaniac and old actor Vasili Svietlovidoff in Chekhov's play. In both cases, he forced the audience to think about the limitations—physical, emotional and moral—of the human condition.

Dr. Kheal, who resolves all existential dilemmas—the matter of love, truth, human ambition—in a 30-minute lecture, is entertaining because he is able to laugh at himself. There’s a wisdom to his approach; treating the matter of a Brussels sprout (a “toy vegetable,” a “miniature cabbage”) as seriously as the notion of truth shows us our place in the universe—as animals who aspire to rationalism but are ultimately immersed in everyday physical experiences. 

Barber is a fun Dr. Kheal, covered with chalk dust, in front of a blackboard, conveying the absurdity of intellectual pursuits with his body language, forgetting and forgiving—himself and others. He is also able to transform into another character at a moment's notice.

Svietlovidoff—an aging man, just like Dr. Kheal—is his opposite, but Barber embodies him as easily. The end of his youth, successes with women, experiences of a young genius on stage is nothing but tragic. Having no distance to himself, he is not even saved by the beautiful madness of Dr. Kheal; all he has is alcohol and memories. It’s hard to like this proud aristocrat who doesn’t really regret anything; he is simply surprised by how quickly life passed. Even then, at the end of life, Svietlovidoff is not able to shed his ego, treating the only person he has left, old prompter Nikita Ivanich (PacRep’s Howard Burnham) as an inferior being, stealing the spots to the very end.

There’s no space for comic relief in Swan Song, despite Nikita’s hilarious red pajama onesie and his long night cap. Despair and darkness is all we are left with.

Watching the two short plays within the same evening is an opportunity to ponder over two possible scenarios for aging and dying—a positive one (life is absurd, humans are just an animal) in Dr. Kheal, and negative one (we are done, all we have is memories) in Swan Song. Leaving, the audience has a choice to compare both and perhaps even embrace one of the modes of thinking.

As for the Circle Theatre space itself, it’s wonderful that PacRep now has a place for minimalistic shows that really add to the theater's repertoire, fitting right next to monumental Broadway musicals and big Shakespeare productions.

Chekhov Or Not. 7:30pm Mondays-Wednesdays; 2pm Saturdays, Dec. 6-13. Circle Theatre at Golden Bough Playhouse, Casanova Street between 8th and 9th, Carmel. $36; $31/seniors; $21/students, teachers, military. (831) 622-0100, pacrep.org.