THEATRE PREVIEW
APRIL 2002
Published in Décor & Style Magazine
TV goes to the theater
-- and gets interactive. Lamb's Players Theatre is presenting "The
Survivor," inspired by the wildly popular show of similar name. Conceived
by Lambs' artistic director Robert Smyth, and created by ensemble effort, this
is actually a play (not a nasty game-show), with a central character and a plot
that examines (and gently skewers) our obsession with celebrity culture.
Charles Williams McKenzie is a marketing/sales rep, a modern Everyman who
travels from the East coast to build a relationship with a woman on the West
coast. Actually, he thought he was going out to get a quart of Cherry Garcia
ice cream… and he wound up lost in a crazy parallel universe. Along the way, he
loses his identity -- which is to say, his laptop, his cellphone and his PDA.
So what does this have
to do with the TV Survivor? Well, the audience can vote people out of the show
and out of Chuck's life. They also determine the situations he encounters. For
instance, at one point in the story, he takes refuge in a bar, and the audience
gets to decide whether it's a salad bar, a sushi bar, an Irish pub or a Western
saloon. The action takes off from that decision. During the several musical
segments, the audience selects the singer and the type of song. Voting-time is
determined by a 'Big Chill' button pushed by one of the 11 actors (and onstage
musician); the show is never the same two nights in a row.
And the audience doesn't
vote by means of applause, as in the Lambs' production of "The Mystery of
Edwin Drood." Nonononono. This is no one-time, low-tech, retro affair.
There is an electronic keypad at every seat. Spectators' input is fed into a
computer, which flashes the results on a scoreboard. "We're attempting
something terrifying," admits director Smyth. "It's bold and crazy.
And with the technology expense, my business office thinks I'm nuts. But it's
been developed as a collaborative effort, so nobody can blame just me!" Is
there a message, I ask, or are you just having fun? "Do we ever just have
fun?" he responds rhetorically. "We've done other very wacky work
over the years, but there's always some point to it. This one explores some of
the quirky silliness of modern life as it examines some important aspects of
our culture." (April 12-May 19, with previews beginning April 3;
619-437-0600; www.lambsplayers.org).
If modern life has got
you down, why not visit the future, with the new Cirque du Soleil production,
"Dralion." The latest North American tour of the acclaimed Canadian
spectacle-makers pitches its tent at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for a limited
engagement beginning April 18. That would be the trademark blue and yellow Big
Top, AKA the Grand Chapiteau. Since its premiere in Montreal in 1999,
"Dralion" has played sold-out engagements in 18 cities. The TV
special of the show, "Cirque du Soleil Presents Dralion," shot live
during a San Francisco performance, was honored with three Emmy Awards in 2001.
Fusing ancient Chinese acrobatics with avant garde circus theatrics,
"Dralion" is "a celebration of life and the four elements that
maintain the natural order: air, water, fire and earth. It propels these four
pillars of the universe into a futuristic dimension, soaring to new heights as
it defies the laws of nature." So reads the press release. You may
translate that into iridescent colors, a fantastical metallic set, and more
than 55 performers from ten countries, including 37 Chinese acrobats, as well
as jugglers, trapeze artists and other acts that feature hoop diving, bamboo
poles, single hand-balancing, teeterboard and more. If you've never seen the
Cirque (which has made quite a splash with "O" in Vegas), treat the family
to some unique entertainment by the nouveau circus that started an
international craze. There's even a VIP Package that includes preferred parking
and seating, refreshments in the VIP Suite, a Dralion gift and a souvenir
program. (1-800-678-5440; cirquedusoleil.com).
If the future's too
fantastical, how about a provocative perusal of the past? Michael Frayn's
"Copenhagen," which won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Play, is making
a brief stop at the Spreckels Theatre, courtesy of Broadway/San Diego. It's the
second national tour of the stimulating, eloquent contemplation of friendship,
fission and physics. Frayn conjectures what might have happened during a
seminal 1941 meeting between two Nobel Prize-winning physicists on opposite
sides of a world war. The brash, young
German, Werner Heisenberg, paid a surprise, clandestine visit to his mentor,
the contemplative, half-Jewish Dane, Niels Bohr. Not for the faint of heart or
mind, the play requires thought and attention on the part of the audience (but
not necessarily prior knowledge of quantum or particle physics). The
protagonists, plus Bohr's wife, are already dead when the piece opens, and they
play and re-play the various motivations and outcomes of the fateful visit. Was
Heisenberg just trying to find out what progress the Allies were making on
nuclear fission? Was he attempting to reassure Bohr that Germany wasn't working
on a bomb at all? Was he intending to recruit his former confidant? Was he
coming for absolution or advice? And why didn't Heisenberg provide Hitler with
a bomb? Because he failed scientifically or because he wanted to save the world
from Nazi destruction?
These questions have
taken on even more relevance since the February release of several unsent
letters written to Heisenberg by Bohr (who worked briefly on the bomb-building
Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, after he fled occupied Denmark). For students
of theater, physics, war, history or relationships, this one's absolutely not
to be missed. (April 23-28; 619-231-8995; www.broadwaysd.com).
Talk about wartime
relevance and anti-Nazi sentiment.… The Fritz Theater is presenting a
well-timed revival of Ionesco's "Rhinoceros," the absurdist 1959
satire in which a man fears remaining human when all his fellow citizens are
achieving animalistic conformity (by turning into rhinos). This allegory of the
powerful pull of Fascism in the face of overwhelming evil and mass hysteria
takes on new meaning in our time, in these days of good-vs.-evil, mindless
jingoism and mob mentality. Fritz artistic director Duane Daniels shepherds a
crackerjack cast (April 5-May 5, at St. Cecilia's Playhouse, 6th and
Cedar; 619-233-7505).
While we're on the
subject of startlingly timely revivals, don't miss Renaissance Theatre Company's
production of Harold Pinter's funny and frightening 1960 drama, "The
Caretaker." This intense three-hander (two brothers and a flip grifter)
plays on the same turf, at the same time, as Ionesco, but in a very different
way -- how to sustain identity in a world that demands conformity as the price
of survival. The fledgling Renaissance Company has hit the heights with each of
its thought-provoking annual productions of 20th century classics
(through April 14 at 6th @ Penn Theatre; 619-688-9210; http://www.sixthatpenn.com/).
Okay, looking for
something on the lighter side? You don't have to have a dashboard Madonna to
love "Late Night Catechism." Of course, if you're a recovering (or
even a practicing) Catholic, and if you spent your formative years under the
tutelage (and ruler) of nuns in parochial school, you'll feel like you were
transported back in time, sitting up straight and doing anything 'Sister' says.
The beauty of this hilariously long-running one-woman show is that it's part
monologue, standup, improv and Oprah. Who could resist?? (April 23-May 12 at
California Center for the Arts; 800-98-TICKET; www.artcenter.org).
Sister wouldn't approve,
but there's an irresistible pair of gender-bending diversions onstage in North
County and Hillcrest this month. North Coast Repertory Theatre continues its
"Pageant," the rowdiest beauty contest on record, with singing,
dancing, evening gown and bathing suit competitions that you just will not
believe. Les girls are Les boys! (through April 21; 888-776-NCRT;
northcoastrep.org).
You've got two
continents and two centuries to work with, and you still can't tell the males
from the females in Diversionary Theatre's "Cloud 9." Fresh from a
string of astonishing successes, Diversionary is taking a stab at Caryl
Churchill's acclaimed farce, a wild ride from 1880 Africa to 1980 London, where
nothing is as it seems. Sexual role-play is the name of the game in this sly,
satirical look at British imperialism, a breeding ground for race and gender
stereotypes. The Globe's Brendon Fox directs. (March 30-May 11; 619-220-0097; www.diversionary.org).
And don't think that the
venerable Globe is immune from gender-bending antics. This month, in a limited
run, the Globe is mounting "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," by
playwright-in-residence Jeffrey Hatcher. Set just after the Restoration, when
women were first permitted to act on the British stage, the play imagines what
it must have been like for famed Shakespearean actor Edward Hynaston, when the
King's new decree barred him from playing the female roles that made him a
star. This new play, which promises to be "lush and lascivious," is
helmed by the award-winning visiting director Mark Lamos (April 6- 27;
619-239-2255; www.theglobetheatres.org).
Next door on the Cassius
Carter Centre Stage, Globe associate artist Joseph Hardy (who directed last year's
"Art") returns to mount "Memoir," an intimate portrait of
one of the most popular actresses of the 20th century, "the
divine Sarah," whose name became a household word for histrionics -- Sarah
Bernhardt. See for yourself what makes a theater legend (March 30-May 5;
619-239-2255; www.theglobetheatres.org).
In the realm of
best-sellers, they don't get more legendary than the prolific Stephen King. If
you'd like to see how he takes to the stage, try "Misery" at the
newly renamed East Side Repertory Theatre in Lakeside (formerly Octad-One
Productions). This white-knuckler concerns a successful romance novelist,
recovering from a car crash, nursed back to health by his Number One Fan -- who
turns out to be a serious sicko. (April 5-May 5; 619-583-2418).
If you're a theatrical
risk-taker, check out UCSD's New Play Festival 2002, ten days of spanking new
work from the always-talented, often inspired MFA students in playwriting. Get
ready for provocative productions, perhaps a challenge or titillation; maybe
even a brilliant new star on the theater horizon (April 17-27; 858-534-4574).
Well, that covers a bit
of history, mystery, comedy and drama. Something old and new, revived and even
a little 'blue.' This is, after all, a Theater Town. There's something for
everyone on San Diego stages. You know, travelocity.com proclaimed us the
latest "theater Mecca." So what are you waiting for? Make your
pilgrimage (and not just once a year!)
See you at the
theater!
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©2002 Patté Productions
Inc.