Wallace Shawn Examines Responsibility

It's hard to nail down specifics in "The Fever," Wallace Shawn's meandering 95-minute monologue that examines the responsibility — and the guilt — of the haves when confronted by the have nots.

Whether you respond to Shawn's 95-minute solo show, which the New Group has revived at off-Broadway's Acorn Theatre, will depend on your connection to the likable performer, whose genial manner hides an impassioned feeling for the poverty and unrest that inflicts much of the world. Some, though, might think of it as chic sermonizing from a comfortable point of view.

The setup is simple. The narrator (Shawn) sits in a chair in what looks like the library of a Manhattan apartment (maybe the Upper West Side) and talks.

Dressed in a natty gray sports jacket, blue shirt and striped tie, he tells the story of finding himself shivering in a hotel room in an unnamed Third World country where a war is going on. An execution is about to take place, and the event sets off a series of ruminations that trip over each other in no particular order.

Among other things, Shawn chatters about some of his nondescript friends — one who was mugged, another whose father has died — and compares their lives to those suffering in the turmoil of the country where he is trapped. Yet neither group of folks comes to life.

Shawn talks about the "beauty" of poor countries and of being poor. "It's a wonderful feeling to have money in a country where most people are poor, to ride in a taxi through horrible slums," he says with only a smidgen of irony.

And he does debate — within himself — whether he should give all his money to the less fortunate. In the end, he does come down on the side of keeping more for himself. "For God's sake, I worked for that money," Shawn rationalizes.

"My feeling in my heart a sympathy for the poor does not change the life of the poor," he muses toward the end of the evening. Well, yes. Shawn's realization at least is honest, although it doesn't provide much insight into what he thinks can be done to alleviate the poverty.

"The Fever" was done at the Public Theater in 1990 in what was a slightly longer version.

This production actually begins before the house lights go down. Shawn already is on stage when the audience enters the theater, and a free glass of champagne (French, no less) is available onstage for those who wish to have a drink before the show. Outrage apparently goes down better in a convivial atmosphere. But that may be the point Shawn is making.