"CURTAIN CALLS"
By Pat Launer
07/28/06
Fest Actors and Sisters Rosensweig swear
That Hip Hop
is virtually everywhere.
THEY’LL NEVER GET TO
THE SHOW: THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG, the late Wendy
Wasserstein’s 1992 play that’s a kind of riff on Chekhov’s Three Sisters. It’s the Old Globe’s first presentation of a
Wasserstein play; too bad it had to come after her death – though, in a
prescient move, the production was planned before the beloved playwright died
this past January. When it premiered on Broadway, the comedy was nominated for
five Tony Awards, including Best Play
THE STORY: It’s hard for
me to be totally objective, as a Brooklyn-born member of a three-sister family,
one of whom is a travel writer and another is a radio personality – just like
the Rosensweigs. These Three Sisters come together at the posh London digs of
the eldest, Sara, to celebrate her post-hysterectomy 54th birthday (Note:
Wendy, who also had two sisters, died at age 55. her older sister died a year
earlier. Virtually every one of her plays chronologues a time
in her own life – and the lives of women of her age -- and there’s
always a character who’s very much like her). Though all three Rosensweigs bear
traces of the playwright, it’s Dr. Gorgeous’ personality who sparkles with
Wendy’s wit and one-liners. In fact, the play doesn’t really take off till she
enters. She and youngest sister Pfeni’s improbable beau – the wildly
flamboyant, broadly hilarious Jeffrey (probable stand-in for Christopher
Durang, Wendy’s best-bud since their Yale days) are the most interesting
characters, though they, too, are more than a tad cartoonish. Not much happens
(very Chekhovian). Boyfriends come and go; sisters flatter, battle, compete,
demean, storm out and then come together. They rediscover their sibling
connections and their heritage. And then they disperse again. But Wendy’s
always been more about character than plot. Here, religion and politics are
thrown into the mix. Both Sara and Pfeni have run away from their religion, but
Gorgeous is still observant, and is in fact, leading a tour group of the Temple
Beth El sisterhood (who make several seminal offstage contributions to the story).
It is Merv who makes Sara re-consider her roots, and all the New York
Jewishness that she’s tried so assiduously to leave behind. In the background
(politics and feminist concerns always lurk somewhere in Wasserstein’s plays)
is the collapse of the
THE PLAYERS/PRODUCTION: The production, under the
direction of David Warren, got off to a slow and rocky start on opening night.
Sarah is the centerpiece of the play, but in some ways, she’s the least interesting
character. And in the role, Janet Zarish is the least believable of the
sisters. She doesn’t feel like the managing director of the Hong Kong-Shanghai
Bank. She’s as bitter and cynical, nasty and sarcastic as described, but she
doesn’t seem as intelligent and powerful as everyone says. This is one of the
play’s weaknesses; the sisters are forever telling each other what their
strengths and weaknesses are. Especially their strengths.
‘You’re brilliant’ is flung at Sara too many times for credibility. The Chekhov
Sisters don’t do that (neither does my
family). As peripatetic Pfeni, Deirdre Lovejoy isn’t quite as eccentric as
she’s described, nor as exciting as the ever-fascinating Jeffrey seems to find
her. Only Jackie Hoffman, as Dr. Gorgeous Teitelbaum, fully lives up to
expectations. She’s aptly frumpy and funny, she gets all the best lines, and
she delivers them with excellent comic panache. She’s absolutely, as Gorgeous
would say, “funsy.” Marty Lodge is appropriately stuffy in the thankless, straw-man
role of Nicholas Pym, the conservative Thatcher MP who’s dating divorced Sara
(and a zillion other women), much to everyone’s dismay. Mark Blum is delightful
as Merv, the nice Jewish furrier from
David
Warren has a feel for the time and tenor of the piece, though the production
doesn’t always precisely hit the mark in balancing the comic and serious tones
that are Wasserstein’s hallmark. Some of the problems are in the play. But
perhaps this year especially, we should cut Wendy some extra slack. The
production is beautifully designed (by Alexander Dodge); the high-ceilinged,
marble-pillared apartment is elegantly furnished. David Woolard, who designed
the character-defining costumes, also outfitted Zhivago at the La Jolla Playhouse.
So,
relax. You’ll laugh a little, maybe you’ll think a little. That’s what Wendy’s
all about.
Interesting
Side-Note: The period-perfect, scratchy-recording of a women’s singing group
(music arrangements and vocal direction by Cris O’Bryon) is by Mosaic, a local
female quintet of which (the newly pregnant) Globe PR director Becky Biegelsen
is a member. They are supposed to be Sara’s college group, and they sound great
for the era (well executed sound design by Paul Peterson).
THE LOCATION: The Old Globe Theatre,
through August 20
ACTORS ON PARADE
So
far, from what I’ve seen (two of six programs), the 16TH ANNUAL ACTORS
FESTIVAL is a winner. Festival artistic director George Soete seems to
have done a splendid job. The print materials – flyer and programs – are
top-flight; very professional, colorful, clear and user-friendly (‘twasn’t ever
thus).
Program 1 was outstanding; it was
one of the consistently strongest Festival evenings I can remember.
It
opened with a late-life, little-known Tennessee Williams one-act, I
Can’t Imagine Tomorrow. Written for television (PBS) in 1970, the piece
came out of emotional ebb in Williams’ life. His best work was behind him, and
his later efforts were repeatedly reviled by critics. “I’ve written my
symphonies,” he said. “Why can’t I be allowed to write chamber music?” Like so
many of his late ‘chamber’ works, this was written when he was in his drugged
out ‘stoned age,’ after the 1963 death of his partner, Frank Merlo. It
concerns, as so many of his creations do, isolation and loneliness; the
difficulty of communication, the individual’s solitary search for the values
and meaning that are absent in the modern world. In most of these plays, people
try to depend on someone else – but they find the disappointing result
insufficient for life support. Need, loss, regret and despair take center
stage. There are no fading Southern belles here, no sly, lyrical humor. The
characters don’t even have names; they’re called One and Two: a sickly,
reclusive woman, and a teacher who can barely
communicate (in vain, he seeks help in a “clinic”). It’s a mournful duet,
played to perfection by two consummate actors – Priscilla Allen and Bill
Dunnam– directed by DJ Sullivan. They admit that, in whatever way they can,
they love each other; he’s terrified of losing her, but she won’t let him help
and she won’t let him get close. The play’s original title was “Dragon
Country,” which One describes as “the country of pain…
an uninhabitable country which is inhabited. Each one crossing through that
huge, barren country has his own separate track to
follow across it alone. … In this country of endured unendurable pain, each one
is absorbed, deafened, blinded by his own journey…”
Bleak view of life, achingly presented.
Rocking
Chair Riddle is written, produced and
performed by Barbara Cole. She calls it the prequel to her solo show, Surviving Chrysalis, which won Best of
the Fest in 2004.She’s a thoroughly engaging onstage presence, but the piece,
about motherhood (“I’m a Mom; how flippin’ weird is that?”) and its inherent
compromises (“I am just a milking machine!”), is more a showcase than a play.
Under the direction of Amy Mayer, Cole deftly plays an array of amusing
characters, by just slinging a baby blanket around her head or waist, while she
talks about women, mothers, disappointment, depression, the craziness and
danger of the world, and a guest on ‘Oprah’ who gave advice on how to live
every day with passion: “Visualize yourself in your golden years, rocking in a
rocking chair. Ask yourself: What is it you would have regretted not doing?’ and
Do It Now!” So, Cole’s character decides to get back into the theater world and
audition again. Meanwhile, she’s harshly judged by various relatives and
friends. Her paunchy, cigarette-smoking sister-in-law, talking of the
“antibiotic fluid” in which babies float, is funniest. Ultimately, Cole decides
she just wants to be a mom (“I don’t want to look back and regret that I didn’t
know what it was like to be present”). Not a huge dramatic arc, but a pleasant
trip to coming-to-terms.
Next
up was the wacky but disturbing Roquefort, by Ted LoRusso. A man
(Mike Sears) kicks his wife (Lisa Berger) and disparages his son, who keeps
hiding in someone’s coal bin (timeframe??). The couple comes home and finds a
note that their unhappy offspring has turned himself into
a head of lettuce. The ensuing off-the-wall interactions are underlain by a
dark vein of mutual cruelty and abuse, a childhood cycle replayed in parenthood
and in a marriage where violence is mundane and sex is used as a threat and a
weapon. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s painted and played very well
(direction by Jeffrey Ingman), however grim the underlying subject.
Comedy
and pain also intertwine in Welcome to Group, where Edwin Eigner
is the ineffectual facilitator of a seriously dysfunctional men’s ‘discussion
group.’ Playwright George Soete has gone wild with this one, which features a
welcome return to the stage by Tom Vegh, a founder of Diversionary Theatre.
He’s the New Guy in the Group, and it takes quite a while till he gets a chance
to tell his horrific, suicidal story; the others are so self-absorbed in their
own lives and craziness. All four ‘patients’ are good, but Haig KoshKarian is
especially noteworthy as the compulsive talker who tells endless, pointless,
boring stories about his wife (“I have relationship issues,” he confesses.
Don’t they all!). Wives are the major topic; Michael
Hubbard gets beaten by his spouse and John Hyatt has an acute anger problem
(and he’s got a gun). Jonathan Sacks nearly steals the show as an acerbic, self-loathing
paranoiac (“I’m pathetic, but at least I’m rational”). Eigner made a funny entrance the night I was
there, spontaneously picking up a stray piece of lettuce, left onstage from the
preceding play, and stuffing it in his mouth. Very clever.
At the end, as one group member locks and loads and another starts slashing himself with a razor, the oblivious leader proclaims it a
“good session” and they adjourn. Another nasty/funny one.
Soete definitely has a way with words. And
What an
Interesting Person You Probably Are was the winner for the Festival 2005 one-minute
play competition, but I’m still trying to figure out why. Written, produced and
directed by Fredi Towbin, it’s a sad but aimless moment spent with an aging,
demented father and his thoughtless, insensitive son (David Paa). Kenny Taylor
is excellent as the bewildered Dad, but the play, like his mind, just wanders
off.
The
evening ended on a strange but somewhat hopeful note, Patricia Loughrey’s We Do
It Broken, directed by George Soete. With the sound of birds in the
background, Sarah (Julie Sachs) comes downstage and addresses the audience,
about her condo, her girlfriend, “real estate versus love.” And then, she
starts telling about the wounded stranger who showed up on her doorstep,
dressed in camouflage, bloodied, bandaged, with a deep gash in her forehead. At
first, in a touch of wry humor, Sarah thinks she’ll invite her to join her book
club. But then the stranger starts with the messages: “The battle has turned.
Try not to lose ground.” For awhile, we’re as much in the dark as Sarah. It’s
all very mysterious. Then the enigmatic character begins talking (in the third
person) about how “Nothing is ever lost. Everyone finally finds home.” It’s
back to real estate again, but not really. She is a messenger, from the women’s
struggle, from the Other Side. “This is not a metaphor,” she insists. “The
battle is real… all of these women. Fighting against the
enemy.” Loughrey, who’s written HIV education plays, and serves as
dramaturge for Diversionary’s playreading series, sure knows how to build
suspense; and there is a final moment of release. This play, excellently acted
by Sachs and Jerusah Neal, is for the crying “little girls of the future.” And
for the living women of the present: Never give up the fight.
Program 5 was well done overall,
but not as strong as Program 1 – and neither were the plays. The evening opened
with David Wiener’s Bride on the Rocks (see other News about David below). Michelle
de Francesco was terrific as an abandoned bride, still in her gorgeous gown and
veil, drinking herself into a stupor as the straight-man bartender (Dave
Rethoret) tries to cheer her up. She flops, she weeps, she
wails, she burps, she upchucks. Her physical comedy is hugely entertaining, as
are many of her lines, and she’s very well directed by Lia Metz. The play’s
premise isn’t new, though it’s well handled, and the piece trails off and
peters out at the end. But it’s a wild and fun ride while it lasts.
No Shoulder, by Nina Shengold, is
another short play with intriguing characters and situation but an unsatisfying
finish. Peg Humphrey plays a middle-aged woman, driving alone on a rainy
Okra Curry
on the Amtrak,
by Madhushree Ghosh, directed by Leslie Ridgeway, is in the same vein, a very
short little piece of older woman/younger woman experience-sharing and
advice-giving. It also ends by hitting the nail too firmly on the head, but the
trip is a thoroughly fun one, worth it just to see D’Ann Paton’s marvelous
performance as a traditional, sari-clad Indian wife, who knows just how to make
a luscious curry – and to use it to her advantage. Jolene Hui is fine as the
assimilated American (“my parents are Indian”) who’s also in an abusive relationship
but doesn’t know what to do about it. Curry to the rescue.
The Madness of
Lady Bright, an early play
by Lanford Wilson, is the story of a lonely, fading drag queen in crisis. Lady
Bright is alone, but accompanied by two characters who
manifest his/her madness - giving voice and encouragement to his/her less sane
thoughts and taking on the roles of characters in his memories and
hallucinations. Nick Mata plays Lady Bright’s Norma Desmond moments to the
hilt. He is flamboyant and outrageous, prancing, dancing and gaily (pun
intended) singing along to scratchy old phonograph records. He’s fascinating
company, but we soon learn that he’s depressed, friendless and self-loathing.
He’s getting older; he’s in decline. No one calls or comes to visit. His major telephone
exchanges are with Dial-a-Prayer, the weather and American Airlines. An
excellent performance, but the play is so repetitive it becomes tiresome (if
Lady B said “I’m going insane” one more time, I was going to scream). Each of the two harpies who haunt him
(Gareth Fisher and Sandra Ruiz) has a shining onstage second (Fisher is
especially engaging as a hunky young trick), but their presence, as directed by
Joey Landwehr, seems more annoying than edifying. The play, however, has historical significance.
It was first produced in
By far
the most comic piece of the program was the capper, Leslie Ridgeway’s Cold
Beer, a funny, futuristic satire. Ridgeway was working overtime on this
evening; she directed the Okra piece, and produced and performed
in her own play. At rise, a kind of Big Brother is spewing 1984-type aphorisms (“Work to Live, Live to Work”). It seems that
no-neck, alcohol-ignorant space aliens have taken over
the world, and turned it into one big brewery, which churns out the worst of
all possible beers – natural lite. Everyone’s being forced to be relocated and
‘reassigned.’ All except Leda (Ridgeway) and her mother (June Gottlieb) who are
hiding out in someone else’s (now abandoned) house. Though the President and
Congress bought right into the whole plan (Ted Kennedy is in charge of the
Boston brewery), and Rush Limbaugh and his minions are encouraging everyone to
cooperate, Leda, a writer like her deceased father, refuses; she’s busy making
posters for some sort of protest, bucking the system and trying to save the
human race – and the First Amendment -- scrawling quotes from Thomas Paine,
Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King on her placards. Her father, she
feels, would approve. In alternate moments, she’s having screaming/cursing
arguments with her Mom. And then Joe enters (funny/stodgy Chris Wiley). A
former photographer, he’s totally bought into the system and is trying to
convince Leda that her new life in the brewery and the climate-controlled City
Center will be great, with its uniforms, robot maids and ‘environment centers’
you can visit if you want to experience seasons. There are humorous references
to Homer Simpson and schlock painter Thomas Kincaid, as well as digs at
society’s non-support of the arts. Art, says Joe, “is
for people who don’t like food, warmth or comfort.” The relevance to our own
crazy times is clear (though the mother character seems superfluous). The
performances are high quality and perfectly pitched; Angela Miller directs with
a nimble touch and a fine sense of the absurdity of this not-so-far-distant
time – and our own.
THE LOCATION: The Lyceum
Theatre, through July 30. Program 5
repeats on July 29
HIPPITY HOP
THE SHOW: HIP HOP IS EVERYWHERE, the choreographic debut of
Eveoke Dance Theatre’s Anthony Rodriguez, who’s shone in the company for 6-7
years. Hip hop was always his preference and specialty, and now he’s applying
it to a wide range of cultures and genres
THE STORY/PLAYERS/PRODUCTION: There’s no
overall story, though the second half of the evening features the kind of
narrative dance pieces Eveoke favors. The first act comprises nine pieces, set
to music from diverse locales: Bali, Africa,
The
use of props, as is the wont of Rodriguez’ mentor, Eveoke founder/choreographer
Gina Angelique, wasn’t always effective. The brooms and flyswatters came off as
more silly than inspired. The hip hop
conceit makes for some limitations in the dance vocabulary, but by and large
the idea works, especially in the Saharan stomps, the South Pacific Drum Dance,
the mannered, stylized Chinese number and the high-spirited, high-stepping
Irish piece (to the music of The Chieftains), which was the ebullient
act-ender. The Irish proved to be the strongest group dance; when the
choreography related to the country rather than to some extraneous concept, the
work was more successful. Many cultures were impossible to guess without the
program. Rather than riffing on the music, and borrowing from the culture, some
other idea was superimposed (the aforementioned swatters and scatology,
graduation caps, Krazy-glued shoes, dental floss, a shaken coke can) to dubious
effect. There were several delicious solos by Rodriguez, and engaging dances
that featured Erika Malone and long-time Eveoke member Nikki Dunnan.
After
the exuberance of the first act, the second act was a serious, mismatched
downer. Angelique choreographed “Hip Hop is in Women,” a dark, disturbing piece
about abuse. And there she was, before the performance, saying that the evening
will prove that hip hop isn’t misogynist or violent. This piece was both,
though it was intended to be a feminist take on the music/dance form. The
Ursula Rucker songs were depressing (about abused women and children “destined
for demise”) and the dance-narrative often just illustrated the lyrics in an
overly didactic, presentational way. There was no subtlety here; it left little
to the imagination (dolls were stomped on all over the stage) and little for
the audience to bring to the work. The second half of the act featured a
companion piece, “Hip Hop is in Men,” created by Rodriguez. This told a
powerful story of sexual identity, machismo, friendship, competition and
ultimately, distressingly, the vicious cycle of violence that cannot be broken.
Rodriguez
definitely shows impressive talent and promise as a choreographer. It will be
wonderful for local audiences to watch as he and his creations mature.
THE LOCATION: The
NEWSNOTES
.. Lyric Opera San Diego announced that its new
Academy for the Performing Arts has been recognized by the San Diego City
Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA) as a preferred provider
“to promote community collaboration and improve student achievement by
providing comprehensive hands-on skill development to middle and high school
students who have expressed an interest in pursuing careers in the performing
arts.” The new Academy will operate year-round at the restored, historic Birch
North Park Theatre; the first session launched on July 10. Thanks to a $5000 grant
from the San Diego Foundation, five www.lyricoperasandiego.com
…More news from San
Diego playwright David Wiener: His play, An Honest Arrangement,
which won Best Play in the 2006 New York City 15-Minute Play Festival, will be
produced Off Broadway this fall. His latest creation, Bride on the Rocks, is premiering at the Actors Festival (repeats
July 29; see review, above)
…Dylan redux … Word has it
that Twyla Tharp is significantly reworking The Times They Are a Changin’ before its upcoming Broadway
opening (previews begin on Sept. 25). She’s known for her last-minute
revamping, and the Dylan-tuned dansical, that premiered last winter at the Old
Globe, sure needed a lot of a-changin’. Critics, and the show’s producers, were
disappointed that real choreography took a backseat to the concept and the
songs. Tharp has altered a good deal of the cast; she jettisoned all but two of
the original dancers, replacing them with performers from her own company, many
of whom were doing Movin’ Out on
Broadway (the show closed last December) and on the road while the Dylan show
was in rehearsal. Most noteworthy is the addition of the mega-talented, Tony
nominated John Selya. Because her ensemble now consists of dancers of Selya’s
caliber, they have been given much more dancing in the show. That’s a relief.
Jenn Colella, miscast as the female singing lead, will be replaced by Caren Lyn
Manuel, who appeared on Broadway in Rent
and
… Get your tickets for a
provocative local presentation: playwright Athol Fugard and
writer/scholar Marianne McDonald in a fund-raising reading of Medea the Beginning by McDonald … Jason the End by Fugard. Proceeds will benefit 6th @
Penn Theatre. Sunday, August 27 only. 7:30pm. $50 donation. 619-688-9210.
'NOT TO BE MISSED!' (Critic’s Picks)
(For full text of all
past reviews, use the Search engine at www.patteproductions.com)
The 16th Annual
Actors
In
the Lyceum Space, through July 30
The Sisters Rosensweig – a flawed but sometimes
effective production, but you owe it to Wendy (Wasserstein) to see her first
production at the Old Globe
At
the Old Globe, through August 20
Fully Committed
- virtuoso performance by
David McBean, who’s better than ever (this is a reprise production)
At
Cygnet Theatre, through August 13
Iphigenia at
At
6th @ Penn Theatre, through August 6
Collected Stories – fascinating, fact-based
premise about writers and stories and who owns what; superbly performed
At
North Coast Repertory Theatre, through July 30
Titus Andronicus – a lot of political
references and many laughs along with the gore; as director Darko Tresnjak puts
it, his production is “bloody good fun!”
In
repertory on the Globe’s Festival Stage, through September 30
Othello – potent production. robustly
acted and directed
In
repertory on the Globe’s Festival Stage, through October 1
Yikes! -- August already! Maintain your cool -- at the theater.
©
2006 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC.