Kaos

Oh NYTW....always keeping things fresh. The latest production called Kaos is performed entirely in Italian. It's an adaptation of a 1984 Italian film of the same name - based around four separate stories that are interweaved into the performance throughout different times.

Again, I'm going to be a bit lazy because this show's pretty difficult to explain, but here's what the NYTW blurb has to say about it: "Taking its title from the Sicilian hamlet where novelist, dramatist and short story writer Luigi Pirandello was born, KAOS blends live music, text and dance to reflect on the mysteries of Sicily at the dawn of the twentieth century, portraying common people heavily affected by poverty, violent political unrest and social change.

Kaos is inspired by four stories by Pirandello, also featured in the Taviani Brothers’ 1984 film. In L'altro figlio (The Other Son), a lonely mother is desperate to regain contact with her children in America, but unable to face her child by rape who lives just down the road. The new bride in Mal di luna (Moon Sickness) discovers that her husband goes mad with each full moon, causing her to seek solace with an old suitor. In Requiem, a clan of peasants fights a baron for the right to have a cemetery on the land they have cultivated for generations. And in Colloqui con i personaggi (A Talk with the Characters), a man converses with his late mother as he tries to make sense of the darkness that pervades his stories."

Right, so there you have the plot..but know that the show is less focused on plot than on being visually stylized. It's quite beautiful to look at and the minimalist set works nicely. I'd say this is the first work of its kind that I've been exposed to. I consider it more of a theatrical event than a play really. Perhaps this is Martha Clarke's style - I haven't seen work by her before - but am curious to see what she bring forth in the future. Again, glad to see NYTW experimenting a bit...and very much looking forward to their January production of Alan Ball's new play!!

Wrecks

Ahhh. Neil LaBute....quite the prolific playwright. After living in NYC only 2 1/2 years I have seen 4 LaBute plays....yes, 4 - Fat Pig, This Is How It Goes, Some Girl(s), and now Wrecks, at the Public Theater.

I love this quote from Theatre Mania - it sums things up pretty well (err.. except for the "superior play" part): "In a way, Neil LaBute has become a theatrical brand name. Buy a ticket to one of his plays and you can count on three things: great acting, probably with some movie stardust associated with the cast; a surprise twist at the climax; and a generally superior play."

Wrecks features Ed Harris in this solo show, delivering a 75 minute monologue. As Edward Carr, Mr. Harris plays a newly bereaved widow talking through his stream of consciousness, still in the funeral home, after his wife has just died. He begins to tell of his life - starting with his childhood as an orphan and going on to live in ten or so different foster homes. Not too much fun, I can imagine. He talks of his wife and how great their time was together - he goes into specific details of their lives, and things start to seem a little too perfect for them to be true. For 65 of the 70 minutes, this man has just professed how much he loves his wife with the business and life they have built together. And then...the twist. And as much as I want to write about it - that just wouldn't be fair. So...try to see the show - or let me know and I can tell you all about...

Regardless of plot - LaBute also directed the play.... however, it's very understated, and it almost seems like Ed Harris could have directed himself most of the time. But let's talk about Ed Harris. As you probably would have guessed - he was fantastic in the role. I've really had so much respect for him as an actor for as long as I can remember, and he didn't disappoint. I started to think about how perfect the acting must be to carry a solo show - and he certainly was up to the challenge.

After seeing Wrecks, I'm curious to see where LaBute will go next. I'm still not entirely loving him as a playwright at this point but not ready to give up just yet.

Spring Awakening...again

I'm going to keep this pretty short - but I was so very lucky to have seen the invited dress rehearsal of Spring Awakening on Broadway last week. I wrote a full post on the show when I saw it Off-Broadway at the Atlantic last season, so check that out if you're interested. Let me just say that this show has done nothing but get better..

The set is pretty similar, just bigger and a bit more elaborate. There have been a few songs that were cut and as a whole the show feels a little tighter. The cast is intact except for the two adults - a big improvement if you ask me....the kids remain to be absolutely amazing.

One note, I originally saw the show sitting on stage at the Atlantic (which continues on Broadway for $35). It's a ridiculously cool way to see the show - but if you see it twice, try it not sitting on stage. I was front row mezzanine and it was like seeing a new show....definitely a new perspective.

This is the one show right now that I'm telling everyone to go see - it's truly an amazing theatre experience. I can't wait for the cast recording..these songs have been in my head non-stop since last week.

Dai (enough)

So I might have to eat my words a bit in this post - because I recall just a few postings ago saying that I'm tired of one-person plays and that I could do without them for a while...enter Culture Project's latest play, part of the Impact Festival, called Dai (enough). It's....you guessed it... a one-woman show...and - I really enjoyed it! Throughout the show, Iris Bahr plays ten different characters - all equally fascinating.

The show is set in a Tel Aviv coffee shop and opens with a Bahr's portrayal of a British television reporter. This reporter is producing a segment on Israeli society - and she's come to this coffee shop to try and get some insight. Through her interviews, Bahr portrays "a Latina actress, a second generation Kibbutznik, a German expatriate, a visiting yenta, a religious zealot, a Russian prostitute, a Palestinian intellectual, a female immigrant soldier, a Christian evangelist, and a Dutch rave girl." Between segments there are enormously loud sound effects that portray each of these people...in the coffee shop....as a suicide bomber comes in a I bet you can guess what comes next.

The show's central theme seems to be the bias and the focus on irrelevant details that we see in today's media. This reporter has just wandered into an Israeli coffee shop, yet meets no Israelis - may not be such a surprise, however, as Israel is quite diverse. One could only imagine what her piece would have been like. With Bahr's excellent portrayal of each character - you feel like you've seen a show with a cast of 10. She's so precise with her accents and movements and so simple in the way the scene changes. It's a powerful show, and part of the powerful Impact festival. I hope I see more one actor shows that are this moving....

The Hairy Ape

"Hairy ape, hugh? Sure!

Dat's the way she looked at me, al right.

Hairy ape? So dat's me, huh"

- Yank

I recently went through a phase of reading as many plays as I could get my hands on - and one of these such plays was The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O'Neill. So, when I heard that the Irish Repertory Theater was doing a production, I jumped at the chance to see it. I have to say, I normally don't get particuarly excited for the Irish Rep, as I've seen some disappointing productions there, but this show was outstanding and I really enjoyed each minute of it.
(photo by Carol Rosegg)

The play, set in the 1920s, concerns Yank (pictured above) , a laborer in the enging room aboard an oceanliner. Yank has just convinced himself that he really matters in the world - that what he does means something to society. This all really comes together when a woman of high society visits the engine room where he works - she shoots him a terrified look and his mind goes crazy with torment. She's the rich daughter of an industrialist in the steel business and refers to him as a "filthy beast" - starting Yank's indentity crisis and the basis of the class struggle the show is built around. He leaves the ship and wanders into Manhattan, only to find he does not belong anywhere; neither with the socialites on 5th Ave, nor with the labor organizers on the waterfront. Becoming desperate, he is reduced to seeking a like-minded being in the gorilla in the Bronz zoo. Ultimately, he ends up dying after the animal's rough embrace. The play reverberate's O'Neill's theme that a capitalist society destroys the working man - certainly a hot topic in the era in which it was produced.

Even today, the play is still relevant. This production has been revived by Ciaran O’Reilly as he pays homage to the original but the real focus of the show is on image and sound. The sets are gorgeous and uncomfortable at the same time. The loud, mechanical jazz interludes during scene changes are appropriately disturbing and relevant. The acting by Yank (Greg Derelian) is top-notch and incredibly believable. I was front row, and at one point Yank was inches away from me - quite terrifying. The show is a success in almost every way.....

The Pillowman - in Philadelphia

The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh (a hero to most contemporary theatre-lovers) is one of my all-time favorite plays. I don't know if anything will ever shake me to the core, and make me feel like I first felt after seeing the Broadway production last year. The entire cast was BRILLIANT - especially Billy Crudup and Michael Stuhlbarg (my personal favorite in the show). But when I first saw the show, I didn't keep a theater blog, and I'm pretty excited to get a few thoughts down now.

So - a new production of the play is running at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. That's right, I actually visited Kevin's new city in order to see theater! It was a nice production, but I found myself often comparing it to the Broadway version. Saxon Palmer (recently in Measure for Pleasure at the Public) plays the main character, Katurian Katurian (that's right..) and he plays the part well. Billy Crudup was in the original cast and I think that Palmer drew a lot of comparisons to the way Crudup played the role..very affected and externally showing pain and emotion pretty heavily. The rest of the cast was nicely rounded out. I tell you though, this production made me realize how much I really admire Michael Stuhlbarg for his original role of Michal (Katurian's brother) in the Broadway version. The man is amazing and did things with that character that shook me to the core.

Well, I won't give away the plot - save to say that it's fantastic writing and some pretty disturbing stories involving children. If you can't get around to watching a production of The Pillowman - I highly suggest buying the play and reading it over and over - you won't be disappointed.

Emergence-See

Well - I'm a big fan of the Public Theater, as I've written here, but I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed by their newest production, a one-man play called Emergence-See. Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of one-actor shows lately (No Child comes to mind - which blew me away..and one of the first, Bridge and Tunnel, even made it to Broadway) but this one didn't stand out or really differentiate itself. Sure, there were some good points being made - but in only and hour and a half, I was a bit bored.

Daniel Beaty wrote and stars in this new production, the story of a slave ship (aptly titled Remembrance) landing off the harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, in present-day, 2006. Daniel portrays roughly 40 characters throughout the play but focuses in on one particular family. Concerning this family, the father has just climbed aboard this slave ship and is attracting a media frenzy. His two sons, Rodney and Freddie, are in Harlem anxiously trying to get their father downtown. Meanwhile, Beaty conveys several characters at the scene of the harbor who are confused, overwhelmed and estatic about the strange happenings.

Cut to a poetry cafe where Rodney is supposed to be performing in a competition, Beaty takes the stage as several different poets, putting forth some powerful rhymes. Tension builds as Rodney shows up to perform just seconds before everyone is about to give up (as he's been stuck down by the harbor with his father).

As the play concludes, the ship disappears and we are left with the thought to always remember (e.g. the ship's name Remembrance) about our heritage and history and not to forget how the past can affect our present.

So - the story's convoluted, the set is uneventful and the lighting is distracting. Daniel Beaty, however, deserves credit for acting his heart out and putting in some great writing. I did read some other reviews that praised everything about the show, one even went as far as to call it "the most important new American drama since Angels in America." Mmm Hmm... Well for now, I beg to differ, and I say I'll choose to stay away from solo shows for just a little while.

The Milliner

I just saw the Milliner at Classic Stage Company this past week. I actually saw it on Halloween - and this is the complete opposite of what most people were probably doing that day.

The show concerns...a Milliner (hat maker)...in Berlin during the period of WWII. This particular hatmaker happens to be Jewish - but claims to be stricly German, denouncing his ties to Judaism and even getting Baptized. We also learn right away that he loves Germany - literally, this man is in love with his country.

The story floats back and forth in time, introducing us to the other main characters. The Milliner is particularly struggling with losing his mother during the war. As you can imagine, she stayed in Germany and suffered the horrors of the Holocaust. We see that they have a close relationship, as he has learned his hat-making trade from her. From this trade, he meets his wife and they seemingly have a lovely relationship...until the war. They are forced to move to England (lucky to have had the chance) where they feel isolated as foreigners, and the Milliner particularly feels like his life has ended being away from his beloved Berlin. After the war, when it's safe to return to Berlin, the Milliner goes back for a visit. During this visit, he runs into a cabaret singer he knew years earlier and the two begin an affair. Going back and forth between England and Berlin, he continues his rocky marriage and the affair. Things seem to be spiralling out of control and his mind is running away with him. In the end, all of his past and present come to a halt when he murders the cabaret singer (after she has casually made an anti-semitic remark). The play ends up where it hinted at beginning - with the Milliner facing a trial for murder.

The show has an interesting concept and I found most of it to be quite good. Parts of the second half dragged on a bit, and I could see some scenes cut. The costumes and hats were lovely. I commented to my friend that I just wanted to grab one off the stage and keep it for my own. All in all, a nice, not spectacular, but nice night at the theatre.