W. H. Auden's "For the Time Being" is a difficult poem that is not made any easier by adapting it for the stage.

Written in 1942, when the world was at war, the poem addresses the birth of Jesus with character monologues that express varying points of view and that blend traditional beliefs with contemporary realities.

Herod, for instance, is a successful city manager, proud of his improvements in engineering and security: "The road goes straight over the mountains, and the drivers no longer carry guns." He orders the massacre of innocents in a pragmatic approach to retain social order that could be disrupted by the appearance of a personal savior.

Originally written as an oratorio to be set to music by Benjamin Britten, the poem was too long and difficult and the work was never completed. The current version at The Actors' Group is abridged and adapted by John Wythe White, and is co-directed by White and Jan McGrath.

It is clearly a labor of love, as White and McGrath also appear in the production, joined by other performers who are familiar to local theater audiences.

Troy Apostol, Della Graham and Gary Morris are the Wise Men, Karen Valasek is Mary, Jo Pruden is Rachel, and Jim Hesse and Richard Goodman are shepherds.

Auden's thesis is that the miracle of the Nativity must be rediscovered repeatedly — a difficult process that is both demanding and immensely rewarding, but that is also short-lived. Accordingly, "the time being" becomes the most difficult part of the year — when we "put the ornaments back into their cardboard boxes," but continue to yearn for hope in a spiritually bleak landscape.

The TAG production is a concert reading that is often bogged down by liturgical trappings.

Stained glass windows provide a backdrop to a semicircle of bishop's chairs for the chorus. White takes a similar chair that has been ecumenically merged into the first row of the audience. A pair of narrators flank the action.

Everyone wears choir robes and enters in procession. There are long waits between scenes while art images are projected on the rear wall to the accompaniment of serious seasonal music. Readers carrying scripts ceremoniously adjust music stands with studied gravity.

Granted, this formal approach is in keeping with the oratorio concept, but it makes for ponderous slow-going and inserts too many meditative opportunities that can lead instead to mind-wandering. There's no need for a "Godspell" format (delivering the New Testament with clown noses and vaudeville skits), but a looser contemporary vibe might perk up the proceedings.