THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS
AIRDATE: June 20, 2003
Freud would have a field-day. There's
more century-spanning, soul-searing angst in two current productions than even
the master could manage. The early 20th century perspective on
neurosis emerges in "Fraulein Else" with the early 21st
century represented in [sic]. Making its international debut at La Jolla
Playhouse (in a co-production with Seattle Rep), "Fraulein Else" is
the brainchild of Francesca Faridany, who adapted the novella written in 1924
by Austrian playwright/novelist Arthur Schnitzler. There are striking
similarities between Freud's famous hysteric, Dora, and Schnitzler's Fraulein
Else, created at about the same time. Faridany is the adolescent Else,
in the breathless, 80-minute stream of consciousness that starts out as a
"perfectly wonderful evening" at an Italian hotel-spa in 1912, and
devolves into a downward-spiraling maelstrom triggered by a desperate letter
from the young Fraulein's mother back in Vienna. Thoughts tumble out of Else,
who considers herself "high-spirited," expressing every flighty,
funny, sexy, whirlwind idea that pops into her head. We're hauled along on a
thrilling, neck-snapping ride, as this exuberant young girl, trapped by her
society, is further constrained by her parents' needs and debts. It's a tragic
story, wonderfully told. Faridany's performance is breathtaking (though she
barely gets to take a breath) and she's magnificently directed by her husband,
the inventive, acclaimed Stephen Wadsworth. Deep, palpable silences speak
volumes, and you can hear the audience hold its breath. The set, lights and
costumes are beautifully suggestive, and the support cast robust. But it is
Faridany's tour de force that charms, delights, appalls and ultimately astounds
us.
The journey in [sic], the Obie
Award-winning dark comedy by Melissa James Gibson, is a lot more bumpy and less
direct. In a Manhattan building, we simultaneously watch a trio of hemmed-in,
hyperverbal, studio-apartment-dwelling 30-something wannabe artists who are
desperate but ineffectual in trying to connect with their careers, each other
and the world around them. Meanwhile, in the upstairs flat, visible only from
the knees down, a taciturn couple splits up and divides the spoils of their
relationship. It's a non-linear, bleakly comic view of urban angst, where
Seinfeld-like, the lines come fast and furious but nothing really happens.
Commissioned by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, it's a perfectly nasty little
challenge for Sledgehammer Theatre, and director Ruff Yeager gives this West
coast premiere a deliciously twisted, rapid-fire staging. David Weiner's
multi-level set and David Cuthbert's attention-grabbing lighting are terrific.
Farhang Pernoon displays more of his astonishing versatility, and he's
marvelously matched by Jason Waller and Janet Hayatshahi. A lack of
communication was never communicated so well. And neurosis never looked so
good--in both plays. Don't miss them!
©2003
Patté Productions Inc.