Pat Launer’s

"CURTAIN CALLS"

6/6/08

NUMBERS GAME

THE SHOW: A Number, by Caryl Churchill one of the most respected female playwrights in the world. I reviewed the production on KSDS Jazz 88.3, along with Request Programme. That review is reprinted in total here.

What if one day, your whole life was called into question? Maybe there was a cataclysmic revelation, or perhaps a quiet realization, but ultimately, it means you just can’t go on.

Existential angst drives two challenging and provocative plays, and they suck the viewer into their vortex. Both last only an hour, but they demand quite a bit from the audience – patience and concentration, a willingness to go along without fully understanding until the unfortunate end. Each is unique in style and experimental in structure.

In “Request Programme,” Miss Rasch leads a life of quiet desperation. Every day is the same – lonely and routinized. We see her come home from work to her tiny little flat, fix a Spartan dinner, listen to the radio, lay out her things for tomorrow. She’s obsessively clean and fastidious.

According to German playwright Franz Xavier Kroetz, who penned the piece in the 1970s, this is what police records show: suicides are often quite neat and tidy in their preparations. In his spare solo play, there is no dialogue; except for the musical request show on the radio, we watch in silence as an isolated, marginalized woman goes through her daily, methodical motions. And though she prepares for the next day, she simply can’t face it. At ion theater, Linda Libby lets a full range of emotions play on her face, in a wonderfully meticulous performance, precisely directed by Glenn Paris.

There’s dialogue in “A Number,” a chilling, barely futuristic two-hander. But it’s filled with pauses and cryptic, unfinished sentences. Details unfold slowly, enigmatically, as the lies, delusions and concealments mount up.

Bernard has found out that he’s not distinctive and he’s not alone. He’s a clone, and there are 20 more exactly like him. He confronts his taciturn father, who doles out truths like crumbs on a breadline. Turns out that Dad didn’t get fatherhood quite right the first time, so he wanted to try again, aiming for perfection. It doesn’t work out well for anyone.

Acclaimed English playwright Caryl Churchill doesn’t just have one headline-grabbing idea in mind. In what the London Evening Standard called the best play of 2002, she turns her laser focus on identity, father and sons, communication and nature vs. nurture.

The Cygnet Theatre production, under the direction of Esther Emery, maintains the suspense and electricity of the often-baffling play. Francis Gercke shows versatility in portraying three of the sons, though they could be more sharply distinguished. D.W. Jacobs gives the flawed father a starkly reserved and detached performance, which leaves us wondering exactly what he really thinks or feels.

These plays contemplate people and ideas on the fringe of our conception. They may not be for everyone – but they’re guaranteed to make you squirm – and think.

Additional Comments on A Number:

The production is simple in design (Jungah Han), with just a large, brown leather sofa center stage. The bowl of identical-looking oranges on the coffee table (dramatically pin-lit at the outset) takes on significance later, as the original Bernard, the angry son, grabs one fruit and flings it furiously against the wall, smashing it to smithereens -- a nice piece of stage business (and an impressive show of strength!). Gercke’s signature physicality comes to the fore in this character, as he leaps over the couch in a single bound (twice). The sound (George Yé) and costumes (Veronica Murphy) make positive contributions to mood and character delineation; the lighting (Matthew Novotny) is especially notable. Against a clinically-tiled backdrop, amoeboid shapes undulate as under a microscope, suggestive of all those little cells swimming around in the background, creating havoc for the ‘litter’ to come. As one exiting theatergoer put it the night I was there, “It reminded me of that song, ‘Send in the Clones.’”

THE LOCATION: Cygnet Theatre, through June 29

BOTTOM LINE: Good bet for the more experimental theatergoer

Teach Your Children Well

THE SHOW: The Tutor, the world premiere of a drama by Allan Havis that was presented as a Vox Nova reading last year, and is back for a full production, as part of the Super Nova Festival of New Plays.

Set in La Jolla, the disquieting drama visits a shockingly dysfunctional family and its truly troubled teen. Orson (Josh Adams) is said to have an IQ over 170, but he’s gotten into some trouble, in school and out. His license has been revoked following a hit-and-run accident, and he’s stashing guns in the house. His parents think he’s under the influence of an evil, unseen friend who’s the real truant and miscreant. The spacey mother (Julia Fulton) and robotic father (Fred Harlow) hire a tutor to try to get Orson back on the right track. Ironically, his name is Seth Kane (Orson and Kane, get it?). Seth also has a troubled past, and the two males sort of bond, emotionally and intellectually, in less-than-predictable ways. The tables turn several times in this intense, suspenseful one-act, which was marvelously acted, and excellently directed (Ruff Yeager). Especially intriguing is the fact that we never quite know at the end what really happened, or what will happen next. Is the kid really a Bad Seed? Did this amoral adolescent, under the tutor’s tutelage, actually develop a conscience and a sense of remorse by the end? Will the tutor live? Havis isn’t telling.

I love this play. The writing is terrific, smart and slick, scary and inscrutable all at once. It’s by far the best work by Havis I’ve ever seen. UCSD undergrad Josh Adams is wonderful as Orson, an aggressively anarchic, nihilistic kid you’d love to hate, but somehow just can’t (though several times, you’d like to smack him but good). Adams also created the kid-friendly, ear-piercing, heavy-metal sound design. Sears is splendid as the uneasy title character, squirming in his own skin but desperate to help this family’s son, even though he couldn’t save his own. Fulton is a marvel in her transition from over-indulged, delusional housewife to sly seductress to blunt, straight-talking, apprehensive mom who knows exactly what’s going on with her disturbed prodigy/progeny. The balance of power among the players shifts repeatedly, and we’re always kept a little off balance. The play is superb, and this production is a remarkable accomplishment, given the minimal rehearsal time. The real tragedy is that there are only four performances. SEE THIS SHOW IF YOU CAN!!

THE LOCATION: Vox Nova’s Super Nova Festival at the Lyceum (Space), two more performances only: 6/8 at 2:00 & 7:00pm

BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET

NOTE: The final presentation of the Super Nova Festival is Dance on The Sun, a new play by Ruff Yeager, with only two more performances: 6/7 at 2 and 8pm. In the short one-act, two classical ballet stars reunite after 25 years and discover that their relationship is as intense as ever. Starring Robin Christ and Ruff Yeager, directed by DeAnna Driscoll.

The third Festival presentation was a staged reading of The Venus Hottentot’s Extreme Makeover, a new musical by Karole Foreman (book & Lyrics) and Ruff Yeager (music). The piece definitely feels like a work in progress, but it brings up many crucial issues for women in general and African American women in particular -- about body image, relationships with men, assertiveness/submission and societal pressures to achieve ‘perfection.’

The script intriguingly intermingles past and present, fact and fiction. The factual part relates to Saartjie Baartman, a young woman from South Africa, whose body was paraded as a side-show attraction known as the Hottentot Venus, because of her oversized posterior and genitalia, both a result of tribal rituals that signified beauty among the Khosian people of her ancestry. Saartjie (Brittany Cooper, seemingly vocally overwhelmed) has a profound influence on modern-day Sara (engaging Courtney Wright), a budding African American actress struggling in a relationship with a Caucasian racist/misogynist (Scott Striegel, who effectively plays nerdy-and-not-nice), an embittered, controlling man for whom she left home and flew across the country. The more caring sculptor, Leonard (beautiful-voiced baritone Charles W. Patmon Jr.), tries to liberate her – to a point. The pseudo-scientist who performed the post-mortem surgery on 26 year-old Baartman (funnyman Andy Collins), as proof of racial “primitive sexuality,” is juxtaposed with a modern-day plastic surgeon (Yeager, hilarious), who wantonly creates his own conception of Beauty. As one line puts it, “Beauty’s only in the eye of the beholder of the holder of the check.”

There are many insights here, but the piece may be taking on too many issues; it felt overstuffed at times, repetitive at others. The cast was game, though, and the chorus adds a great deal to the mix. Composer Yeager stepped in to play the nefarious surgeon because a dislocated shoulder forced his son Geoffrey Yeager to pull out of the production. Collins was a hoot in several character roles (of several nationalities). And Ria Carey just about stole the show, with her growling rendition of the sexually explicit comic number, “The Bigger the Cushion, the Better the Pushin’.”

It was hard to tell, on opening night, whether the score was at times too difficult to sing or some of the singers just weren’t vocally up to it. The comic or melodic numbers, like “Beautiful’ (nicely rendered by Wright), were most effective. Jeannine Marquie directed this musically and dramatically challenging work, which has one more performance, Sat. June 7 at 5pm in the Lyceum Space.

Cuba Libre

THE SHOW: Alexandros, a world premiere by Cuban-American playwright Melinda Lopez, whose earlier drama, Sonia Flew, also premiered at Laguna Playhouse, and garnered multiple awards in its national stagings.

We drove up to Laguna for the opening of Alexandros, since the new comedy was directed by North Coast rep artistic director David Ellenstein, and designed by NCRT’s resident designer Marty Burnett. Other San Diego connections in Laguna: artistic director Andrew Barnicle used to be the Head of Theatre at USIU (now Alliant University) and served as associate artistic director at North Coast Rep, as well as appearing around town as an actor. Karen Wood, former managing director of the San Diego Repertory Theatre, now holds that post in Laguna. There was a formidable contingent from North Coast there. Alas, that was more impressive than the play.

The story, set in Miami, 1974, on the eve of Nixon’s resignation, concerns a dispersed Cuban-American family, re-convening for the matriarch’s 75^th birthday. Abuela (Maria Cellario), a healer in the Old Country, believes in omens, signs and superstitions, and ‘throwing shells’ to tell the future. The future doesn’t look too good for anyone, since they’re all oppressed by the weight of long-held secrets. Disappointed, man-hungry Maritza (Saundra Santiago) breezes in from Texas, where her marriage to a wealthy doctor has fallen apart. Her effusive, lounge-singer brother Tio (Chaz Mena) is more than just friends with the Anglo gardener (Kevin Symons), who isn’t really a gardener at all. Marty (Katharine Luckinbill, granddaughter of the great Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) is Maritza’s miserable, milquetoast daughter, who grows in stature and influence as she unearths secrets and lies, encourages honesty, and seems to take on her grandma’s healing powers, all the while dealing with the disaster of Abuela’s decidedly nasty but beloved canine, who gives the play its title.

There are actually some potentially significant family issues here, but it’s all written and played like an old-fashioned (‘70s) sitcom, with the regularly timed audience response sounding distinctly like a laugh-track. It’s all so inorganically ‘wacky’ and over-the-top. In fact, one of the most poignant moments – when Maritza reveals that she’s repeatedly undermined in Texas, taken for a Mexican – is greeted with laughter. Disturbing. The performances are generally underwhelming, with Mena as the ebullient, oversized standout. He’s the most naturally funny, and broadly talented, and always amusing, even if exaggerated.

The direction keeps up a frantic pace, which works well for the farcical moments, less so for the quieter times. The set is wonderful, a modern, multi-level condo with tiled roof and sea-blue walls. There’s an inviting outside patio with potted orange tree (though the comic antics out there are difficult to see if you aren’t seated in the center of the house). Most magical is the use of scrims which reveal what’s going on inside the bathroom, when Marty discovers the dead dog (I don’t think I gave away too significant a plot-point here, though that revelation does trigger many madcap actions). The lighting (Paulie Jenkins) is attractive, except the day wanes but the sky stays blue.

This play would provide a great opportunity to open a (bilingual) window on another American sub-culture; around these parts, all our Latino theater is Mexican or Chicano. But we don’t gain much insight; and at least for this viewer, the feather-light comedy isn’t all that funny.

THE LOCATION: Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, through June 29

RED SCARE

SHOW: Red Diaper Baby, a solo piece by nationally recognized monologist Josh Kornbluth. The gifted storyteller was in San Diego to perform this early work years ago, at the invitation of Sledgehammer Theatre, when Kirsten Brandt was at the helm. Last week, he returned, as part of the 15^th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival, hosted by the San Diego Repertory Theatre. He also presented his latest work, Citizen Josh, a disquisition on democracy, perfectly timed for the Presidential election. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to that one, but I loved the backstory: he presented the monologue to his long-ago academic advisor, who agreed to let Josh use it as his senior thesis -- only 28 years late (he was supposed to graduate in 1980) -- to complete his bachelor’s degree from Princeton. Oy, must his mother be happy!

His mother, and even moreso, his father and grandfather, feature prominently in the hilarious Red Diaper Baby, all about growing up in New York with Communist-Jewish parents (divorced, they lived on opposite ends of Manhattan), his time in Catholic school, his seminal high school trip to Mother Russia and his first sexual encounter (with an older woman – a side-splitting experience). Kornbluth is a terrific entertainer. His writing is intelligent and incisive, his comic instincts flawless. Unlike the bone-dry monologist Spalding Gray, who sat at a table during his performances, Josh moves with antic agility as he speaks. He’s an actor as much as a writer, and he’s an outrageous raconteur, a guy you’d spend an evening with in a heartbeat. If you ever have a chance to see/hear him, Do Not Miss It.

NOTE: Still to come in the Lipinsky Festival, dramatically speaking, is the First Annual Festival of New Jewish Plays. That includes readings of Bluish by Janece Shaffer, an exploration of what being married and being Jewish really mean (Monday, June 16, 7:30pm at North Coast Repertory Theatre). And a comedy by Matt Thompson, The Wondering Jew, which is about a Jewish son and his non-Jewish Passover date to the family seder (Tuesday, June 17, 7:30pm at NCRT). I’ll be appearing in that one, adding another Jewish mother to my repertoire. Hope to see you there!

NEWS AND VIEWS ….

… Join Jon… and Friends… The San Diego Shakespeare Society presents Jonathan McMurtry and Shakespeare Friends, featuring the award-winning Old Globe Associate Artist (winner of the Patté Award for Lifetime Achievement) onstage with celebrity pals, including Kandis Chappell, Ron Choularton, David Ellenstein, Sandra Ellis-Troy, Antonio “TJ” Johnson, Rosina Reynolds, and me -- and other surprise guests. Monday, June 30 at 7:30pm at Moonlight’s Avo Playhouse in Vista. Admission is FREE. Info at 760-639-6199.

… Get up to Shakespeare snuff… In conjunction with its Summer Shakespeare Festival, which begins previews June 14, the Old Globe is presenting “Shakespeare in the Garden Talks,” a series of informative pre-show chats led by local academics, actors and directors. The FREE talks, which run on an irregular schedule -- from July 11 (All’s Well that Ends Well) to September 6 (The Merry Wives of Windsor), with some Romeo and Juliet in between -- are held at 7:15pm in the Old Globe Plaza. For tickets, schedule or further info, call 619-23-GLOBE.

... Lights up!... This week, the light lab in UCSD’s Theatre and Dance Department (Galbraith Hall) was formally christened the “Chris Parry Light Lab,” in honor of the late and beloved faculty member and lighting-design whiz who passed away last year. A radiant tribute.

… A fond acknowledgment to another much-missed former UCSD faculty member -- Dr. Floyd Gaffney -- will be presented by Common Ground Theatre, of which Gaffney was artistic director for 36 years. Titled “This is Gaffney” (his signature telephone intro), the event is slated to be the first annual birthday tribute and fundraiser for the theater and its educational programs, including CGT Youth Academy, the director’s idea for offering free summer and after-school programs for under-served youth. Special guests at the event will include Gaffney protégés James Avery (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”), who was both touching and funny at the UCSD tribute to Gaffney; John Houston (star of the ‘80s TV show, “In the Heat of the Night”) and Hasan El-Amin (who toured nationally in The Lion King and over the past few years, appeared locally as Edmund in the San Diego Rep’s King Lear; in Gaffney’s production of Tambourines to Glory; and as the title character in the Cygnet/Black Ensemble Theatre reading of King Hedley II). CGT promises music, drama, dance, song, awards and a silent auction. Saturday, June 14, 6-9pm at the Educational Cultural Complex. 619-263-7911; cgtheatre@sbcglobal.net.

… More than three, fewer than ten… The Cake Women, a one-act by local actor/writer Kevin Six, has been published in “2007: The Best Ten-Minute Plays for Three or More Actors” (his calls for five). The book was published by Smith and Kraus, coincidentally the corporate sponsors of ion theatre’s year-long “Intimate Ibsen” series. Small world (fewer publishers of drama).

'NOT TO BE MISSED!' (Pat’s Picks)

The Tutor – deliciously dark, disturbing play, superbly written, excellently performed. Only two more performances; don’t miss it1

Vox Nova’s Super Nova Theatre Festival, at the Lyceum Theatre (Space), Sunday, June 8 at 2 and 7pm

Three Days of Rain – wonderful performances, excellent direction, provocative play

Compass Theatre (formerly 6^th @ Penn), through 6/16. Two performances added: June 10 and 11 at 7:30pm

June is busting out all over! You, too, can burst into song… at the theater!

Pat

© 2008 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC.

For more than 20 years, Pat Launer has been the only regular broadcast theater critic in San Diego. An Emmy Award-winner with a Ph.D. in Communication Arts & Sciences, Pat sees and reviews more than 200 local theater productions every year. For the past decade, she has hosted and produced The Patté Awards for Theatre Excellence, a gala community event that honors local theatermakers (“San Diegans making theater for San Diego”) and celebrates the broad diversity of San Diego theater.