Monday, November 16, 2009
This is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonnergan
The plot can roughly be described as three Gen X youth living in New York City in 1982. However, as the patron sitting to my left noticed, “This doesn’t have to be set in the 80’s. This could be anytime after 1969.” The story is of two friends, Warren and Dennis, the former is a drug peddler whose parents pay for his rent and the latter is a boomerang child who decides to retaliate by stealing money from his father. Enter Jessica, the FIT student with whom Dennis is infatuated. However, Dennis’ plans to bed this beauty are interrupted by the woman’s intellect, perspicacity, and willingness to challenge the status quo. All three characters become involved in a drug scheme, sexual rendezvous, and the inability to communicate their true emotions which, essentially, is the tragic flaw of these unheroic heroes.
On the surface, the play is about masculine friendship and identity, the drug culture, Gen X, and love. Digging slightly deeper, you realize this play is actually an analysis of the Gen X mentality. Dennis brings with him a suitcase full of antique toys – a symbol of the legacy the Boomer generation left to their children. The question remains, “How do Gen Xer’s make sense out of the legacy they were given by the turbulent 60s?” When Warren returns from selling the merchandise for a fraction of its “worth,” we see the legacy deteriorate. The play spins economic theory, mass mis-communication, and honest human emotion into a tangled web where communication is incomprehensible.
The play is conflicting because at times, one wonders how these characters so involved in drugs can express themselves so lucidly and yet mis-communicate their feelings and emotions so poorly. However, it is brilliant in that it captures the ethos of the Gen X sentimentality. It is one of those plays where you feel that research must be done in frat houses dormitories and drug cartel’s to truly capture the voice of these characters.
This production, though lacking in special effects and professional suavity, definitely captured the essence of the piece with all its discomfort and awkward miscommunication. Jonathon Popp as Dennis portrays a doped-up, sleazy, manipulator that harkens the very spirit of David Mamet, Sam Shephard, and Sean Penn all at once. He seems not only made for this performance but to be giving the performance of his lifetime. Steven Rossignol as Warren displays moments of brilliance, mostly in the presence of the other actors,but one definitely gets the sense that he has real acting chops behind the moribund demeanor. Chelsea Cipolla as the lone female definitely portrays a character whose well-grounded and back-boned – a difficult achievement given the patriarchal tone of the piece.
Although the play is well acted and well directed, one can’t help but notice the white, straight, heterosexist hegemony reified by the play’s themes and content. It’s almost as if the author wants the audience to empathize with the white, straight, middle-class whiney bastards who soak up their trust funds while piddling away their lives as some sort of Greek tragedy. As entertaining and enlightening as this show is into the Gen X aesthetic, it should most be analyzed in terms of its reification of the capitalist system and the way Gen X considers the economy as part of our identification and expression of a contemporary Lost Generation.
Third by Wendy Wasserstein
In the way that her popular hit Sisters Rosenzweig updated Chekhov’s Three Sisters to 1980s Manhattan, this play modernizes Lear into a New England university where a liberal product-of-the-sixties English instructor is challenged by a Midwestern white, middle-class male – the seeming antithesis of the professor’s “liberal” education. At the heart of the story is the instructor’s accusation that the boy plagiarized his essay on King Lear – a rather pertinent topic given the fact that Wasserstein herself is plagiarizing Shakespeare, who some consider the greatest plagiarer of all. The rest of the plot seems quite perfunctory unless one is a university professor, Shakespeare aficionado, or theatre critic who will enjoy comparing the plot and characters of Shakespeare’s tragedy to this one. The professor has two daughters both of whom represent Goneril and Cordelia while the student represents Regan, the good child. The instructor’s father also makes a brief appearance representing the end-of-act-III Lear as an old man afflicted with Alzheimer’s. A scene on a streetcorner in a rainstorm provides a pivotal moment that maybe lost on anyone who is not familiar with the original work.
Devotees of Ms. Wasserstein’s work will find bits of her uncanny dialogue and character creation, not the least of which is the character of Dr. Gordon. This character seems to solely encompass the wit, wisdom, and spunk for which Wasserstein is known. The fact that this character is battling cancer, the ailment that took Wasserstein’s life, makes her that much more powerful and appreciated. Wasserstein seemed to infuse this character alone with her signature wryness and style. You can see the playwright’s personality come through this character as she fights for her own life while pointing out the triviality in the plights of the characters around her. Perhaps Dr. Gordon was conceived as the fool from Lear who, despite his ignorance possesses great knowledge for the king. On the other hand, it is impossible to ignore that this character maybe Wasserstein herself putting into perspective the trivialities that she dramatized so well in other works.
Unfortunately, the play comes off a bit too pedantic and after-school-special to be considered one of Wasserstein’s magnum opuses. Fellow audience members around me couldn’t help but draw parallels to Mamet’s Oleanna and Rebecca Gilman’s acerbic Spinning into Butter, works that have tackled similar themes with far more combustible content. However, I find this work to be a requiem not just for Ms. Wasserstein’s life and ouvre, but for the era of psychologist-couch realism for which she was writing. Wasserstein provided a voice for the Baby Boom generation educated in the sixties and wrestling with the society they helped to create. In this work, Wasserstein seems to be passing the torch to the next generation with a bit of trepidation, but an acknowledgement that it is time to move on.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Company One: After the Quake
For those of you who don't know, Frank Galati is the modern-day grandfather of the narrative theatre movement, a style popularized and proselytized at Northwestern where Galati and patron-saint Mary Zimmerman both teach. As the name implies, this genre is based in the act of bringing literature to the stage as in Galati's TONY-winning adaptation of "The Grapes of Wrath" and Zimmerman's TONY-winning "Metamorphosis." In both of these examples, traditional theatre techniques and narrative forms are mixed with storytelling, music, and choreography conjuring the origins of Greek Theatre.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
NYC: Ruined
I saw the production of Ruined now playing at Manhattan Theatre Club Stage 1 and I was completely blown away by the simple, yet powerful depiction of a brothel in war-torn Congo. The story revolves around Mama Nadi, the madame, who attempts to provide a refuge of sorts for girls who are displaced from their homes in order to find solace in the steady work and security of living in a house of ill-repute. The actress known as Portia portrays Mama Nadi, a perfect madame conflicted by her need to provide for the girls she has while confronted with two new emigres, one of which is "ruined." "Ruined," in case you haven't deciphered, is the term given to women who have been raped to the point of genital mutilation - a far cry from Thomas Hardy's Ruined Maid, but a similar sentiment. When the trader Christian (commandingly portrayed by Russell G. Jones) arrives with two new girls, he persuades Mama Nadi to accept them with an offering of Belgian chocolates. Her acceptance of two lives in exchange for chocolates reflects a Brechtian Mother Courage that is pervasive throughout the script. The plot thickens when it is revealed that the one girl who is ruined, Sophie, is also Christian's niece. Sophie, however, proves a useful commodity as she has enough education to keep the books and is blessed with a singing voice to stave off the men. Although, this production is not a musical, the original music provided by Dominic Kanza is award-worthy in itself (and far more worthy of accolade than the Disneyfied Broadway hit In the Heights also shamefully nominated for a Pulitzer). Condola Rashad as the ruined Sophie delivers a star-making performance both in acting and singing prowess. Her friend, Salima, is not ruined and, therefore, is immediately exposed to "the life." Quincy Tyler Bernstein portrays the perfectly nubile Salima who gives her body begrudgingly while holding onto her dream of her estranged husband, Fortune.
Throughout the play, Mama Nadi's house serves as a rotating door for soldiers and opportunistic men. Meanwhile, the encroaching war brings Mama Nadi's to the center of the conflict when a begrudged soldier informs the commander that Mama Nadi has hosted the rebel leaders. In one of the most dramatic climaxes of any play I have seen, the girls of Mama Nadi's are thrust to the ground by soldiers and... well, you can only imagine the brutality and drama that ensues.
I often cry at the theatre and Ruined proved to be a tear-fest. However, my tears were shed with shocking revelations about each of the characters as they tell their stories that led them to Mama Nadi's. The dramas of this drama are delivered through gut wrenching sucker punches that fly at you from every unexpected angle. Sophie's determination to sing through her fear as she watches her friend give her body to a man for the first time. Salima's revelation of her pregnancy and the horrifying tale of her first-born child. Indeed, Madame Nadi's own shocking revelation at the end of the play. Each of these moments is delivered with emotional impact and truth that startle, stun, and ultimately force us to question (and bless) our privileged lives and existence in the United States.
Two years ago, the Pulitzer committee gave the award to David Lindsay Abaire's Rabbit Hole, an equally emotional drama, but one set in the comforts of suburban America. After seeing Mr. Abaire's show, I remember crying out of empathy for this family who lost their young child in a hit and run accident. However, afterward, I felt that my emotions had been compromised and derided the Pulitzer committee for selecting a show that completely evades the questions of American privilege during a time when our own country is at war. Although, I do think that Mr. Abaire's piece is a worthy play, I am pleased to see that the Pulitzer committee has opened their eyes and expanded their selection criteria to embrace the injustices in the world that deserve to be explored through the medium of theatre.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
NYC: Mary Stuart
Thus, Harriet Walter's Queen Elizabeth provides the perfect antagonist to McTeer's Mary Stuart. Whereas McTeer is over-the-top and melodramatic, Ms. Walter's performance is a perfectly calculated presentation of a Queen whose motivations are obfuscated with treachery and conviction. This is not to say that Ms. Walters delivers an emotionally stilted performance; however, she only allows her emotions to escape when the circumstances have stacked against her. And this slip of emotion against her regal facade of comportment delivers a far more empathy-inducing reaction than the give-all tactics of the title character. Ms. Walters perfectly depicts the dichotomous frustration of being a despot: having ultimate power and being forced to live with the consequences which may affect a nation. Ms. Walter does an exceptional job of conveying her inner-conflict without releasing her outer shell. In any other TONY year, I guarantee she would have received her due laurels.
The other actor who most impressed me in this production was John Benjamin Hickey as the Earl of Leicester. While many of the supporting cast delivered fine performances, Mr. Hickey's surpassed all the others. His was the only performance to transcend the debilitating directorial interpretation of costuming the men in contemporary suits. Whereas this device became a hindrance with all the other characters, in Mr. Hickey's command, his costume was superfluous. He deftly portrayed the suitor, cunning traitor, and empathetic citizen fluidly and with abandon. His performance has been sadly underrated under the glare of the star actresses attention.
The show also carries a weighty directorial interpretation that is unique for a Broadway historical drama. Usually, one expects classic plays on Broadway to be presented with stunning costumes, sets, and spectacle. The only scenery for this production was a sparse brick wall painted black and lined with a 1970s-style wooden bench. The costumes for the men were contemporary black suits with more traditional garb for the women characters. My colleague suggested that this choice was to emphasize the difference in gender roles; however, I wonder if this was chosen to contemporize the themes of the play such as religion versus politics, public will versus private gain, and power versus manipulation. The sparse design was punctuated with superb lighting that almost played a supporting role in the cast. Designed by Hugh Vanstone, the use of light and shadow, illumination of isolated objects, and footlights that cast magnanimous shadows on the back wall provided a commentary on the text that could be a full semester's study in the ability of light to interpret a play. As for the rest of the director's choices, I found myself wondering why more often than understanding or being emotionally affected by the aesthetic. I am the biggest fan of American Repertory Theatre who has established itself as the home of crazy directorial interpretation in the U.S. (clearly, Europe has the trademark on the funky mise en scene). However, I felt jipped by this production's concept in that I was not able to focus my full attention on the quality acting or delivery of story in a play that is rife with storytelling. Had this been Romeo and Juliet or Julius Caesar, I would have said, "Interpret away..." But given the historicism of thie piece, I wanted the production to raise questions about the characters' motivations and interactions that influenced history rather than the director and designers' interpretations to influence the audiences' aesthetic experience.