SAN DIEGO THEATRE SCENE
"CURTAIN CALLS"
By Pat Launer
04/28/04
An "Earthquake' exploded at SD Rep
And the Mark Morris Dancers kept in
step
While up in La Jolla, a new play
surprised
And next door, Billy Crystal-ized.
MAYA TIME
What exactly, you may ask, is an "Earthquake
Sun?" According to the Old One (Linda Castro) in Luis Valdez's
latest world premiere of the same name, it's part of the prophecy of the Mayan
Solar Lords. The Great Cycle of the Fifth Sun, known as the Earthquake Sun, was
predicted to end on Baktun 13, which is to say, after 13 cycles of 400 years each. In the Mayan 'Great Cycle' of 5,125
years, the "end time" should occur early in the 21st
century (that's us, folks!). To be precise (which the Mayans always were) the
21st of December, 2012 should be the end of an epoch, a time of
extreme change. So hold onto your hats!
"Earthquake Sun" is a time-traveling love
story. An education in the ways of the ancient Maya. A multi-media,
multi-millennial look at the Latino past, present and future. A combination of
magical realism and science fiction. An admonition to Follow your heart, not
your head. A contemplation of virility and mortality. A meditation on fathers
and sons, death and legacies. Luis Valdez has a lot on his mind. Maybe too much
for one play.
But this new production features some potent and
lyrical language and some gorgeous stage pictures, thanks to the design genius
of Giulio Cesare Perrone (sets and costumes) and the techno-wizardry of
Jennifer Setlow (lighting) and Paul Peterson (sound). There's a neon
double-helix, a solar space-launch, a shootout of the sun. There's a
self-circumcision, and thorny string threaded through a penis, and later a
tongue. There are holograms and a sexy game of pitz ball. Whew! There's a lot
going on here.
The play is set in three millennia: 732, 2012 and 3312
A.D. Within these timeframes, we get a glimpse of the height of the Mayan
civilization, the continuing saga of illegal immigrants jeopardizing their
lives to cross the border; and a clone-populated neo-Mayan future where sex is
banned but pitz ball (the ancient game) is still played (holographically).
It's head-spinning, and it all requires a great deal of
narrative exposition, backstory and didactic explanation, which doesn't always
make for high drama. But there are peak moments of conflict and attraction,
just enough to keep us engaged and attentive, through the many evolutions of
character and twists of plot. Clearly, more shaping, editing and paring down
are needed. But Valdez is sowing seeds here, adding to his legacy, a theme
which recurs repeatedly in the play.
The piece requires a chameleon cast, and they mostly
rise to the occasion. Linda Castro is marvelously mercurial as the Old One,
Astro Priest or Genetic Databank (depending on the century), sucking on a
cigar, dispensing wisdom and humor, helping our hero out of one fix or another,
and giving us most of the background information that we need to understand
what's going on. We learn along with Jaguar Kan (Daniel Rangel, who's less
convincing as a Mayan Solar Lord than as a border-crossing coyote or a
buff, futuristic ballplayer). His long-lost love, whom he re-encounters in
different incarnations with each successive journey through time, is
wonderfully portrayed by Sandra Ruiz. She moved up into the role (from the
Ensemble) just two days before the first preview, and she's definitely made the
part her own, especially charismatic as the pitz-playing Maya Kinetic of the 34th
century. As the mother and father figures, Monica Sanchez has a regal bearing
and Kinan Valdez (Luis' son) has force and energy to burn. The Ensemble (Janel
DeGuzman, Jeremiah Maestas, Arturo Medina and Melanie Anne Marsh) become
assistants, extras, supernumeraries, bearers of props, as needed. The movement
coach was choreographer John Malashock, but his imprint isn't strongly felt
here.
What you come away remembering most is the truth within
the heart, the thorned-thread circumcision and the gorgeous design. That
probably wasn't exactly what Valdez intended. But we've learned something about
the Mayans, too. And about the playwright's current concerns.
At the San Diego Repertory Theatre, through May 16
(baktun 13, katun 19).
THAT'S 'MR. DICK' TO YOU…
Ken Weitzman graduated from the UCSD MFA program
in playwriting, but he stayed on to teach. Now, as part of the Baldwin New Play
Festival, with all the BigWigs from out of town in attendance, he gets the
opportunity to have his latest work seen as a staged reading. "Richard
Aiken" is "freely adapted" from Molière's
"Tartuffe," the 1664 comedy about a religious hypocrite. This
updated, up-to-the-minute version is funny, sardonic and a little sleazy in a
way that the master probably would've appreciated, since it's very much of its time
and definitely skewers its own society.
This
zealous charlatan, Richard Aiken (he prefers to be called Dick; you figure it
out) suffers from sexual compulsiveness; he's even been in Group Therapy for
it, which is where he met Dorine, the buttoned-up chief executive of the
household, who has her own problems. It was she who introduced him into Charles
Orgon's house, where he's insinuated himself into the very fabric of family
life, to wheedle the estate out from under Charles' adoring daughter, the buff,
materialistic macha, Mariane. There is, of course, Charles' air-headed second
wife (the first one "ran away to be a lesbian"); in the end, it's the
ditz-brain Elmire who comes up with the plan that saves the day. It all has to
do with masturbation (don't ask). The sexual humor climaxes a few too many
times, perhaps, and occasionally shoots too wide (or low) of the mark. But this
is really a very funny piece, commenting on our sexual obsession (while
professing Puritanism), our warped gender biases and expectations, our workaholic
business-folk and loopy environmentalists, trophy wives (here, she's called a
"hood ornament") and of course, our overly-influential religious
fundamentalists, with their over-use of the now-clichéd "What Would
Jesus….. ? (fill in the blank).
As
in his prior Festival plays, "Arrangements" and "Spin
Moves," Weitzman shows his political astuteness, flair for dialogue and
character, and his quirky sense of humor.
Though
it was only a staged reading, the piece was outstandingly acted by the graduating
MFA class of 2004: Alex Cranmer, adorably clueless as Charles and comical as
his mother; Makela Spielman, smart, cunning and buttoned-up (and then
unleashed) as Dorine; Christine Albright amusingly aggressive and petulant as
Mariane; Corey Brill, hilariously oversexed as Richard Aiken; and Amy Stewart,
absolutely uproarious as the dim but perceptive Elmire. Each made of the
character a fully-fleshed, believable and delightfully flawed individual
(thanks here to the writing, too, of course).
Director
Amy Cook got the tone and pace just right, and the moves and stage business she
inserted were perfect. This was a one-time-only deal (Sat. at 10:30am --
gasp!!) But with all those visiting dignitaries, someone should pick it up for
a full production; same goes for several of the other Festival plays,
especially Mat Smart's "The Hopper Collection." Weitzman's previous
play, "Arrangements," recently won the L. Arnold Weissberger Award
and has had readings in several cities, including New York, L.A. and Washington,
D.C. and you may get to see full mountings of his work at a major theater soon.
He's been commissioned by South Coast Rep (a grant for an Outstanding Emerging
Playwright).
……Speaking
of political theater, UCSD held a forum on Friday afternoon, featuring
dramaturges, literary managers and other visitors from around the country. The
highlight of the event was panelist Arthur Kopit, the acclaimed playwright who
penned "The Road to Nirvana," "Oh Dad, Poor Dad..," "Indians," "Wings,"
"Nine" (book) and the
much-better-than-the-other-one-but-unfortunately-less-well-known musical,
"Phantom." If not for Kopit, the discussion would have been mired in
dry, academic debate. But he brought the passion into the conversation (where
it belonged), emphasizing the fact that good political theater should transcend
politics and tell a good story, with good characters. "You should sense
the absolute passion of the writer," he said, "not to tell us but to
show us -- without cliché. Conscious political theater with an agenda is
dishonest -- unless the agenda is to make you see or experience, not to make
you learn. At the heart is passion and conviction," he concluded.
"Without it, theater is obscene."
BILLY THE KID
Sometimes it's just as well when we
critics can't review a particular production or a work-in-progress. But that
wasn't the case with the inaugural La Jolla Playhouse Page to Stage production,
"I Am My Own Wife," which just won the Pulitzer Prize, and featured
perhaps the finest, most subtle and nuanced piece of acting I've ever seen --
by Jefferson Mays. Now along comes "700 Sundays; Billy Crystal: A Life
in Progress," and once again, we're under a gag rule. Suffice it to say that, in
this 2-act, 2+hour memoir ('700 Sundays' refers to the 15 years of his life his
father was alive), you'll laugh and you'll cry. Guaranteed.
COMMIT YOURSELF
His
performance was "dazzling," to quote myself. David McBean was
spectacular in the local premiere of "Fully Committed,"
playing a huge range of characters who call in for reservations at a tony New
York restaurant. This is the actor's actor performance-to-die-for. Under Sean Murray's direction, McBean was astonishing --
effortlessly, seamlessly moving between genders, orientations, accents,
dialects and speaking styles. If you didn't catch it last time, this is your
big chance… back by VERY popular demand.. for two weeks only. At Cygnet
Theatre.
MUSIC AND MORRIS
The Mark Morris Dance Company made a
rare and much-anticipated visit to San Diego last weekend, at Copley Symphony
Hall (not the best place to see dance; the rake is too gentle, so the
sightlines are less than optimal). Jenni Prisk and I trundled downtown, all
a-twitter and aglow to see the famous 24 year-old company.
In terms of matching the music to the
dance -- Morris is perhaps unequaled. He's been described as "undeviating
in his devotion to music," and in this, the choreographer did not
disappoint. His flamboyant, fanciful creations aren't translations,
interpretations or complements to a score; they are extensions of it,
transcending both mediums to create something new and naturally
intertwined. Since the music is as
important to him as the dance, it's not surprising (though it is unique) that
he features live musicians and singers. The violin, viola, cello and piano
players were a wonderful addition, and the soprano (who sang for "A
Spell") was terrific.
The first 3/4 of his program this
weekend was less than hoped for: "My Party" (danced to the Trio in C
for violin, viola and cello by Jean Françaix) had all the earmarks of folk
dance, many of the group moves in lines and circles, danced under strung
lanterns. The sherbet-colored costumes were luscious, but the piece was
emotionally distant. "All Fours" had all the angularity of Béla
Bartók's String Quartet No. 4 -- with wildly swinging arms, dark undertones and
alternating (black and white-clad) couplings. The music for "A Spell"
was composed by John Wilson, but never were the lyricists credited -- and that would be Shakespeare and his
contemporaries (i.e., Beaumont and Fletcher). Odd omission, that. Here, the
choreography quickly crossed the line from whimsical to silly.
It was only in the much-acclaimed
"V" that Morris really showed the heights he's capable of reaching.
This was a pitch-perfect match to Robert Schumann's 'Quintet in E flat for
Piano and Strings, op. 44. One suggestion has been that the piece represents
the Roman numeral 5, in reference to the Quintet. But since it premiered in
October 2001, it's possible there are other (post-9/11) implications. Here, two
groups of dancers, one in celadon, the other in peacock blue -- earth and sky?
-- come together and meld into one primordial conglomerate. Crawling crablike
along the ground, they gradually rise, one by one, moving forward in Darwinian
progression, to an upright position ultimately leaping, soaring in exultation.
This provocative segment (rising from the destruction? Evolving, perhaps?)
vitiated all the unemotional, disengaging dance that had preceded it.
"V" was exciting, inventive, unpredictable. Just what we'd come for.
FOCUS ON LUIS…
PLEASE NOTE: There was a change in date for the Arts Full Focus show on
KPBS this week. I'll be guest-hosting, and interviewing Luis Valdez on Wednesday,
April 28, at 6:30 and 11pm (KPBS-TV, channel 15/cable 11). Join me behind
the scenes of "Earthquake Sun"… Hasta la vista, Baby.
THESE DAYS IN THEATER…
It's a Theater kinda day on KPBS on
Wed. April 28. I'll be a guest on 'These Days' on KPBS Radio (89.5FM) from
10-11am, talking about upcoming theater. So call in! Talk to you then!!
And
now, for THIS WEEK'S 'DON'T MISS' LIST
"Fully Committed" -- return, command performance of David McBean's hilarious
tour de force. Don't miss it this time! Cygnet Theatre, April 30-May 16 only.
"700 Sundays; Billy Crystal: A
Life in Progress" -- can't review it, and it's all sold out. But there are some
last-minute standing-room tix. At the La Jolla Playhouse, through May 2 only.
"M. Butterfly" -- the most amazing (true) story ever told! Excellently co-produced
by Diversionary and Asian American Rep; at Diversionary Theatre, through May 8
Usher in the Merry Month of May -- at
the theater!
Pat
©2004
Patté Productions Inc.