THEATRE
REVIEW:
“Somebody
Else's House” by David Cale at Sushi Performance and Visual Art
KPBS AIRDATE:
When storyteller David Cale invites you in, you
definitely feel like you're in “Somebody Else's House.” He embodies, becomes, a multitude of
characters. They aren't quite people
you want to know, but they're people you sort of understand. You get a visceral feel for their isolation,
their repression and sense of loss, and their attempts, however feeble, to bust
out and break free.
The place is the
Most memorable are Sissy, a guy who thinks his
nickname comes from his similarity to Sissy Spacek in the movie
"Badlands" -- and he tries to live up to that role, ultimately
burning down his house. His story is as
sad as the rest, but like his pet duck, he is finally liberated.
There's Christina, the fair-skinned girl from a
bigoted family who falls for a black man and begins to feel "embarrassed
to be white." Her life turns into
a never-ending sexual cycle of wanting and waiting.
There's a gay guy who denies his inner self and
another who only finds himself in the beds of music performance stars. And there's the crazed, intense, raspy strangler
whose story is so compelling, you practically hold your breath until he's
finished... It's a brief hour, but you
feel winded at the end, and a little wasted.
Cale inhabits these characters, switching
effortlessly from one heavy accent or dialect to the next. From an Irishman on the wagon, fantasizing a
sexual relationship between God and the devil, to the drawling Texan to the
tight-kneed girls, the uptight guys and the baby-voiced Qui Qui who lives inside
a man and triumphs when the fellow opens up and tries to free himself. There's an element of hope at the end, but
this isn't a happy lot.
The English-born Cale is a master of lingo and
cadence. You actually have to listen
pretty hard. By the time you adjust to
one accent, he's on to the next. And
boy, does he know people. In a matter
of minutes, sometimes seconds, he captures an essence -- somebody’s dreams and
nightmares, fears and demons and expectations.
There are telling lines, stuffed, almost hidden, in-between a bunch of
others, which seem to reveal something close to the bone of the writer. Like the title-source: "I live in the world like it was
somebody else's house." Or
"Everyone's looking for something real in their unreal world." Or, "I've got gallows humor combined
with a positive outlook on life."
David Cale doesn't align himself with the
performance artists who thrash about onstage, baring their souls and
ultra-personal tribulations. Like a
good storyteller, he creates powerful images, then wraps them around you and
cinches them tight, leaving you breathless.
"Somebody Else's House" is billed as a
work in progress. It's a very strong
production as is, though I'm not too sure about Qui Qui, who opens and closes
the piece. Maybe it's the voice, that
sounds so strained. It grated on
me. The rest of the cast... well, I wouldn't want to live with any of
them, but I'm not sorry I was introduced to them.
...Speaking
of great casts, just a brief end-note:
Don't miss "A Chorus Line" at Moonlight Amphitheatre in
For KPBS radio, I'm Pat Launer.
©1992 Patté Productions Inc.