Joe, Author at TheaterReviewsFromMySeat

About This Reviewer - September 24, 2019

Patriarchy! (The Tank)

Tank-aret (rhymes with cabaret) is a new monthly series at the Tank. Each show features new works by artists with the intention to lift up the voices of “women, queer and trans artists, artists of color, differently abled artists and anyone else who has some cabaret magic to make but is usually not given the space to take risks and bite off more they can chew.” My first dip into the Tank-aret is a new musical in development called Patriarchy!

The description of this show piqued my interest. The four women justices of the Supreme Court are “erudite, well read and punk as fuck.” Apparently an asteroid is barreling straight towards Earth. All of the male members of the Court have jumped on a space plane to escape danger. The ladies have been left behind and they are not happy campers. “Time for oral arguments, jerks!”

EllaRose Chary (one of the curators of this series) conceived this piece with Rachel Flynn (book) and Melissa Lusk (co-songwriter). Our three current justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are joined with Sandra Day O’Connor in this briefing designed to save the world from mass extinction.

At the beginning of this staged reading, the creators inform that this was the first performance of this work-in-development. The idea is inspired. The ladies are pissed. The songs are without question heavily influenced by the punk rock aesthetic. I was instantly reminded of the awesomely titled book “Notorious RBG.” Sherri Edelen’s protrayal showed what potential this material has as to really be “a raging feminist nightmare.”

“No one is going to need judgments after the apocalypse, at least for an appeal’s court, ” the ladies agree. How to save the Earth then? A trial is conducted. Even the asteroid gets legal representation. The premise is fun; the anger out in the open. Songs have titles like “We Push Back.”

The punk rock ditties were enjoyable. If Alexander Hamilton can rap, why can’t these women raise some anarchistic hell? If this piece develops further, more songs will be needed to break up the longer dialogue sections. Additional character development would help as well. Sotomayor’s knife sharpening was funny the first time but she, like most of the justices, could use a few more edges.

There’s a great idea here and I hope the creative team plays around with the possibilities. How about RBG starting the show in a hospital bed? She’s watching the news. The asteroid is hours away from annihilating the planet. The male justices have abandoned the world they were sworn to protect. She rips off her monitoring devices and jumps up into an angry punk tune. Patriarchy! is a very clever idea. Sharpen the arguments and I’ll pay to see it again.

www.thetanknyc.org

About This Reviewer - September 22, 2019September 26, 2019

The Invention of Tragedy (Flea Theater)

How to describe the oratorically dense, frequently hysterical and mind-buzzingly creative The Invention of Tragedy? How does Shakespeare sound to a young child? “Let there be a dragon of trees and washing without wash cloths bags cats wardrobes bungle things and other things traps and twerps and words and greater words of estuarial conviviality.” My new favorite kind of conviviality, it turns out.

Originally written in 2004 and having its world premiere now, Mac Wellman’s exuberant mini-masterpiece is a refreshingly idiosyncratic theatrical experience. When you see as much theater as I do, there is an unique joy when confronted with something this complex and wacky. He is clearly reflecting on the dangers of groupthink and mob mentality. His chorus repeatedly intones “and chop the chails off all cats.” I was reminded of different clowns, the ones who chant “lock her up.”

His chorus demonstrates in words and actions a mutual reinforcement of symbols and ideas and speak. I enforce you and you enforce me. “When an each becomes an all, the all becomes an each.” That “is the invention of tragedy.” After the Hare (Susan Ly, excellent) recites this analysis, the narrator cues yet another catastrophic cat reference and there is “a tragic paws.”

One particular member of the chorus (a very winning Drita Kabashi), however, has her eyes wide open. She’s a mischievous rebel who clearly isn’t falling in line. The entire play is set in the auditorium of a parochial school. At one point, this sore thumb starts chugging church wine rather than obediently reciting her lines in formation with the others. She takes a stand to say, “I am here to announce and PROCLAIM a departure of all cats.” Eventually she will be challenged by the one who wields an axe. This is a play of ideas not plot but amusingly The Invention of Tragedy does embrace “all things felineckety.”

The narrator sits at an organ scoring the action with ominous and simple chords. She drolly comments on the action, highlighting stage directions like “a pause of inappropriate dogginess.” I was compelled to frequently watch Sarah Alice Shull perform her role. She wrings so much subtle irony from her lines. Her facial expressions and body language were arguably even more entertaining.

Our rebel is singled out right from the start of this play. The chorus says about her: “This difference is a problem.” Mr. Wellman further elaborates that “this difference is a problem for one and all as we shall see the problem will not go away.” This is a society which craves sameness “and chop the chails off cats.” If you have any capacity for critical thinking, the analogies to many current events are obvious and bracing (despite having been written in 2004).

Surrounding the essential themes of this play, there are countless lines of exquisite jibberish. There were many of us in the audience delighting in the quirky verbiage. A big laugh greeted this enchantment: “Goose ascending in tall aspect to please the St. Elmer’s fire.”

Mr. Wellman is not simply being silly here and looks to bond with his listening audience. “And yes, like you perhaps, I am inclined to fight windmills because I cannot say what it is I really want to say.” It’s not a big stretch to think about The Invention of Tragedy and today’s bizarre groupthink alliances. Is this play any more incomprehensible than the current adoration society between fundamentalist Evangelicals, serial sexual predators and gun waving ‘Mericans?

Meghan Finn directed this stellar production. What happens on stage is no simple feat. The language is intricate but this outstanding cast of young women makes it look effortless. And fun. It really comes across as a warped school play. Some admittedly will be baffled; it’s like sitting in the middle of a Trump rally. You can understand the words individually. The imbecilic mob mentality, on the other hand, may seem elusive and repulsive.

Theater that entertains this extravagantly while baring its fangs so intelligently is a treat. Many, many decades from now, I hope this particularly horrific era will be embarrassing to a future state where differences are celebrated. And with more gentle words. Like Mr. Wellman, “I like the quiet idea, that rides imperceptibly through time and history, like a ripple on a pond.” Embrace the different theatrically and pounce (like a cat!) on this one.

The Invention of Tragedy is part of the Flea Theater’s festival of five plays called Mac Wellman: Perfect Catastrophes running through November 1st.

www.theflea.org

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About This Reviewer - September 20, 2019September 26, 2019

Novenas For a Lost Hospital (Rattlestick Theater)

Good intentions and sad realities come into focus in the telling of the demise of the Greenwich Village institution, St. Vincent’s Hospital. A question is posed. “How do we hold a memory when all the bricks are gone?” Novenas For a Lost Hospital mashes up 160 years of vivid life serving a community from the cholera epidemic of 1849 to the HIV/AIDS crisis and 9/11.

Elizabeth Ann Seton (Kathleen Chalfant) was the first American canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. She created the first parochial girl’s school and founded the Sisters of Charity. From that order, four nuns from Maryland arrived in New York to start an orphanage. A hospital to serve the poor followed with thirty beds. From those humble beginnings grew a major city hospital.

One of the nine novenas contained in this remembrance is “the beauty of chaos.” One neighborhood resident fondly remembers St. Vincent’s emergency room. That’s “where you go when you need a big dose of mayhem.” She’s played by Kelly McAndrew, a standout in multiple roles amidst a strong cast of actors.

This hospital served everyone regardless of religion and ability to pay. In our current political climate many of our elected leaders and corporations fight to reduce providing health care to its people. This history is definitely worth reflecting on. Rather than sisters of charity, today we have the land of the $100 million health insurance CEO.

The structure of this play is an interconnecting fantasy of assorted doctors, nurses and patients from various ages of the hospital’s existence. Mother Seton was “my favorite hallucination” says an AIDS patient (Ken Barnett) who survived the plague. His choreographer boyfriend (Justin Genna) did not, noting “everyone is getting better but me.” All of the characters from different eras pop in and out to shed light on this hospital’s history while also commenting on societal injustices.

Pierre Toussaint (Alvin Keith) is another historical figure who helps frame the period. He was a slave from Haiti brought to New York. Eventually freed, he became a leading black New Yorker who contributed and raised funds to help build St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He was the first layperson buried in the crypt below the main altar. In 1996, the church declared him “venerable,” a major step toward becoming a saint. Helping to grow the tax-free financially lucrative business of religion might be the sarcastic (if likely accurate) interpretation. But I digress.

Written by Cusi Cram, Novenas For a Lost Hospital similarly digresses and quite often. Racism and genocide are addressed. “Slaves laid the bricks in this area for land stolen from the Indians.” On the realities of health care: “sometimes Humpty Dumpty can’t be put back together again.” Science and religion are “uneasy bedfellows.”

“It’s not like the Catholic Church is the only sexist institution.” There are frequent jabs at a misguided America throughout. With bipartisan neglect, we “bail out banks but not hospitals.” The rebukes are sharp and sometimes very on point: “late stage capitalism will literally kill us all.” When Susan Sarandon is rebuffed twice for her comments about not taking her kids to St. Vincent’s, the message gets diluted. Was that a personal vendetta requiring a repeated slap across the face?

There are so many reasons to celebrate and not forget what this institution meant to those in need. When the fourth candle is lit and you realize that there are nine novenas in total, all the side tracking began to take its toll on my endurance. Regarding surgical theater, did we really need to hear a doctor quip “free theater, the best kind”?

This production begins with a musical prologue in the courtyard of St. John’s in the Village. The audience is then escorted around the corner to the theater. We are encouraged to linger at old photos of the hospital through the years, cholera notices and ACT UP marches. At the end of this play, everyone travels outside to the AIDS memorial for a solemn moment of reflection.

Novenas For a Lost Hospital is certainly a well-intentioned historical remembrance worthy of serious contemplation. As a theatrical event, however, most sections and scenes are far too elongated. How many times do we need to see the choreographer dance? When this meditation hits the bulls-eye and makes a hugely pertinent point, the impact is very powerful. Without a charitable hospital which serves the less fortunate, “where do we go the next time there is an epidemic?” Indeed, where do we go?

The world premiere of Novenas For a Lost Hospital is being presented by Rattlestick Theater through October 13th.

www.rattlestick.org

About This Reviewer - September 19, 2019September 26, 2019

Make Believe (Second Stage Theater)

“If I had to do it all over again, I never would have had children.” That line is not from playwright Bess Wohl’s Make Believe. That chestnut is from an oft-repeated refrain from my mother. This play explores similarly gloomy relationships between children and parents in a structurally interesting way.

David Zinn’s impressive stage set is an attic playground. Up in this world where the children convene after school is a playhouse, a plastic kitchen set, a table and chairs, toys and storage boxes. This play is set both in the 1980’s and the present day. When taking your seat, the soundtrack includes The Police’s “Spirits in the Material World” and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “Enola Gay.”

Young Addie (Casey Hilton) is pretending to be mommy with her Cabbage Patch doll. The four children of this household have defined roles. When Young Chris (Ryan Foust) comes home, he’s taunting studious Kate (Maren Heary) who chides him for making a ruckus. Eventually they slip into family play have a pretend dinner. Kate will scream “Now come on before it gets cold!” Staring at the meatloaf, Chris barks “what the hell is this?”

Where are their parents? Chris is mad that there was no snack on the table when he got home. The phone rings and the children listen through the floor. That is the connection to the outside world for them and us. The answering machine picks up. Over time the friction in this household will become even clearer. Meanwhile, the children reenact the behaviors they witness including the pretend chugging of wine.

Make Believe is certainly funny and, for many of us, recognizable. What makes this story so tantalizing are the layers of heartbreak which peek through the children’s personalities. Kate writes a letter to Princess Grace of Monaco. “It has come to my attention that I may be your child.” Funny, yes. Tinged with sadness, most definitely.

The story evolves to the current day and mysteries will be dealt with at a family reunion of sorts. Ms. Wohl’s dialogue includes a hopeful thought: “This is just childhood. We’re not even going to remember most of this stuff.” As you might expect, that’s not entirely accurate. All of the kids had their own coping mechanisms in their youth. Young Carl (Harrison Fox) did not talk and pretended to be a dog. The reunion brings adults together who are still coping with unforgotten memories and disappointments.

Michael Grief has nicely directed this ensemble. The children are equally natural and exaggerated in their depiction of their world. The adults feel like extensions of their younger personas. This fairly short play meanders and unravels in a casual and very effective way. By the end, there is a completeness to the journey. Funny and sad. Thoughtful and angry. Most importantly, so very real and, frankly, dispiriting.

Make Believe is a strong piece of theater. My favorite performance was from the older Addie played by Susannah Flood. That’s unfair to say because parents are not supposed to pick favorites, especially in a group this endearing and accomplished. Not for nothing, this play reinforces that parents are not perfect!

I saw Bess Wohl’s exceptional hit play Small Mouth Sounds at Ars Nova in 2015. That memorable journey involved a silent retreat in which all the characters onstage did not speak. The precise facial and body language conveyed their personal angst. The audience was trusted to interpret and fill in the details. Make Believe is similarly thoughtful. From my seat, I’d note that it was also dismaying and so very true to life.

Make Believe has been extended through September 22nd at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theater. I fully expect regional theater companies will pounce on this one in the future.

www.2st.com

About This Reviewer - September 18, 2019September 26, 2019

Wives (Playwrights Horizons)

Jaclyn Backhaus has written Wives as a proudly feminist comedic reprimand which rails against patriarchal history. This wildly uneven and ultimately unsatisfying short work ponders the women who had to sit on the sidelines of their husbands. After a few laughs, there is an epiphany of sorts which, like the universe, contains a lot of dead space.

This play contains four sections which are unconnected except thematically. Ms. Backhaus uses various eras to show disgruntled yet empowered women rising up against their tormentors (or buffoons depending on the vignette). The lack of any continuing narrative isn’t really the problem. It’s just a bit of clowning around before a bludgeon is used to mystically transcend space and time.

The first scene involves the French monarch Henri II, wife Catherine de’Medici and his mistress. Catherine says to him, “U fakeass bitch.” The language is vigorously contemporary and does produce laughs. We’ve all seen countless historical pieces where wives of these periods knew about their husband’s infidelities. This part felt like the appetizer to something bigger and better.

The entree portion of Wives is definitely the second section. The widows of Ernest Hemingway get together upon his death. All are dressed in black. They reminisce and drink a bunch of booze. A large marlin prop lambastes the trophy hunting of the alpha male stereotype.

When dessert arrives, it appears in the form of India when they were subjugated to the British. There’s a Maharajah and his wife. The target here, however, is the oppressive British male and his ineffective bumbling. The patriarchy is bad message is expanded to colonialism. That’s not a bad idea, just a very underdeveloped one.

Moving on quickly to after dinner drinks is when the ship steers violently off course. At Oxbridge University, a coven of academic witches have a club. A portrait of Virginia Woolf is on the wall. Eventually there will be a transcendental connection with the universe which can be described as both a feminist rallying cry and a speechifying mess. Maybe the after dinner drinks were eschewed for edibles in a legalized marijuana state?

All of this silly gobbledygook is handsomely staged by Director Margot Bordelon (from last year’s equally unremarkable Eddie and Dave). The pace is frantic as the material requires. All four actors do solid work in multiple roles, especially Adina Verson. She memorably opens the play as a 16th Century chef in the mold of Julia Child.

There are chuckles to be had while enduring Wives. Unlike Ms. Backhaus’ truly inspired Men on Boats, however, there’s nothing meaningful to absorb. In that play, an 1869 expedition down the Colorado River was reenacted by a female cast. That commentary on male bravado and aggressive masculinity was very effective.

Wives aspires to be a genre busting amorphous piece of theater. Unfortunately, this frequently boring amusement is stuck on the corner of incomplete and forgettable.

Wives is running through October 6th at Playwrights Horizons.

www.playwrightshorizons.org

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About This Reviewer - September 13, 2019

Decky Does A Bronco

When you are a very lucky theatergoer, a play can transport you to a different time and place and age. Decky Does A Bronco is one such experience. A heavy metal playground swing set is placed on a raised stage of green carpeting. On the walls there are chalk drawings. You can see and more importantly feel the surrounding Scottish neighborhoods in the distance. The scenic designer is Diggle who did very memorable work last year at the Tank with Red Emma and the Mad Monk.

Aidan Marshall’s exceptional lighting design transports this tale back to a time when the summer days of young boys consisted of horseplay and vivid imaginations. The lights may change color and freeze a moment for emphasis. David (Cody Robinson) narrates his story of five young boys in 1983. He describes himself as a “pathological reminiscer.”

This memoir as a play effectively tells the story of one summer which remains an unforgettable, unforgivable and unlucky moment in life. “That’s what happens when you look back with an adult frame on things.” David is joined by O’Neil, Barry, Chrissy and the titular Decky for daily fun at this particular playground. The swing set challenge of bronco “fills in the gap between Star Wars and football.”

Imagine yourself at nine years old standing on a swing in the park. Gaining momentum, you use gravity to make the swing go higher and higher. High enough so that you can use one foot to coerce the swing to fly over the bar while you jump off. A successful bronco completes the revolution without any personal injury. The sound effect from the heavy chains punctuates the victory. The trick is a dangerous combination of vandalism and sport. And a social benchmark for the gang. On the evening I saw Decky Does A Bronco, there was even a spectacular double performed to excited applause and an obviously proud cast!

David tells this story of these boys and their childhood exploits in the park. Chrissy (David Gow) and Decky (Misha Osherovich) are best friends who are always fighting and competing. They have outsized fantasies and the energy of valiant warriors. Barry (Kennedy Kanagawa) spends the summer with his grandmother, biking to this park and trying to break his own record on each trip.

An older (thirteen) outsider named O’Neil (Graham Baker) often stops by. He is “one of those naturally cool people with amazing sporting ability.” He can bronco for days. Scenes with these five kids playing and horsing around are impressively realistic and will spark memories of youth, creativity, freedom and competitiveness. All of the adult actors have beautifully inhabited a detailed childlike persona. The situations and assorted hijinks are vividly staged by director Ethan Nienaber.

Decky is the smaller boy and he has less skill in completing a Bronco. Narrator David fondly recalls this particular summer and then tries to make sense of a tragic event which is hinted at from the beginning of this exceptionally fine play. There may be a few seconds of heavy handedness in the script towards the end. Do nine year old boys think and speak that way?

The utterly complete capturing of youthful zeal is what makes Decky Does A Bronco so thrillingly entertaining. David notes that this time is prior to the sarcastic period. “Before I knew it, I was being ironic in the morning.” Amidst all of the zany fun, a specific incident occurs. Who is to blame? How does it impact such young lives? How does the passage of time help to heal deep sorrow? Do we move on with life? Are we forever changed?

Run to see Decky Does A Bronco. All five actors are perfect in memorably written roles. Douglas Maxwell’s excellent play is wildly fun and deadly serious, just like life. We’ve all said things that we regret at one point or another. Here’s a chance to listen to a playwright come to terms with that. I was devastated. Bravo.

Decky Does A Bronco is running through September 21st at The Royal Family Performing Arts Space.

www.deckydoesabronco.com

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About This Reviewer - September 12, 2019September 26, 2019

No Brainer, or the Solution to Parasites (Theater For the New City)

Over six weekends in August and September, the Theater For the New City is presenting a free original musical No Brainer, or the Solution to Parasites. The artwork features an image of a man with orange hair. Guessing the main topic? No brainer! Artistic Director Crystal Field wrote the book, lyrics and directed this “roaring musical that puts a New York social worker against a dictator consumed by parasites.”

This original show has been composed and arranged by Joseph Vernon Banks. These artists are taking theater directly to the people and for free. To East 10th Street. To the Coney Island Boardwalk. To Jackie Robinson Park. My visit was to Washington Square Park. A stage is set up with backdrops lined up on the side with a band nearby. This show is staged in all five boroughs of New York City.

A social services provider has “to find housing for people where there ain’t no housing to find.” He is fighting for people – families facing eviction, children in temporary housing and immigrants struggling for citizenship. In the opening number, “Census Song” we hear from a nurse from Bensonhurst, a cab driver, a barber from Harlem and others. This is a musical for the people meant to be approachable and universal.

This musical happens to be about “a raging, somewhat drunk real estate magnate from a TV reality show.” He bellows “go back where you came from so we can reign forever.” The political lines are drawn and quartered. The underworld “keepers of the pot” warn about a “cesspool filled with the catastrophe of industry.” In this secret Hades-like area the gods cleanse a nation’s soul in a cauldron by boiling out history’s tragic missteps; namely, genocide, slavery and war. They warn “don’t drink a cup of this!”

The future leader of the world (let’s call him Donald) gulps down the bubbling brew which is full of parasites. His brain directs him to seek the highest office in the land. Our social worker accepts the challenge to save the world from this grandiose charlatan. The politics are clear and broadly funny. Even the border wall plays a part in this roasting. Will the evil despot be condemned to the cauldron of historical garbage? You know the answer.

At the end of this good-intentioned musical meant to engage every person in the crowd, the people dance! Brother-and-sisterhood once again save the day! Imagine a theater company creating a show meant to engage our citizens about current events. Imagine bringing the story to them in multiple neighborhoods throughout our city. Can there be any more exciting way to connect with the masses, tell a story and teach a few fun facts?

Here’s a lesson shared to anyone who will listen: if ICE comes to your door they have to produce a warrant. Oh and it needs to be signed by a judge. That’s not a warning to me but maybe it is very, very relevant to someone sitting in and enjoying some free entertainment. This show is professionally presented on a budget with great backdrops and a moving panorama. The work put into the visuals is enchanting and delightful.

Amidst all this fun and sarcastic frivolity, tourists and various New Yorkers walk past the performance. Some focus and take pictures. Other are oblivious. Kind of a reflection of our times. The presidential figure shouts “I tried everything. Russia, sanctions, tariffs. I’ve got to win. I need a war!” Here’s a show for those who need a laugh to heal. That this show is a free expression of artistic protest performed outside for anyone to hear makes this endeavor worth a listen. Get into the target audience’s head and really think about what the creators are sharing and teaching.

The last two performances of No Brainer, or the Solution to Parasites will be performed this weekend in Staten Island’s Corporal Thompson Park and Manhattan’s Tompkins Square Park.

www.theaterforthenewcity.net

About This Reviewer - September 11, 2019September 11, 2019

The Chaos Theory of Now (Theater For the New City)

When I sat down to see The Chaos Theory of Now, I found the pre-show music selections to be quirky. Barbara Mandrell’s “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.” Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science.” k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving.” Turns out the song choices were spot on. The author and performer, Jennifer Joy Pawlitschek, grew up on a farm before becoming a science nerd and a lesbian.

Her play uses the fascinating idea of taking chaos theory to help explain what is happening in America today. Like many of us, she is struggling to grasp how people can see the world so differently. “My family are far right Republican, fundamentalist Christian, climate change-denying, Trump-voting creationists.” She asks out loud, “How did that happen?”

Ms. Pawlitschek will take us on several journeys. Widowed Joyce is struggling to save the Nebraska family farm and owns a bookstore called Isaiah 40:31 Books and Gifts. Lesbian politician Jenny is running for office in a deeply religious Minnesota district. Her daughter Ashley is the poster child for antifa. Bethany lives in Atlanta persevering through an unhappy marriage while homeschooling four children.

In addition to these characters, Ms. Pawlitschek acts as the narrator. Her thought experiment is allowed to blossom from engaging individualized stories to broader perspectives and analysis. Her siblings all went to the same schools. “How did I end up loving science, when most of my family became committed fundamentalists? How can chaos theory explain this?”

Politician Jenny is a moderate democrat who believes in cutting government waste but also taking care of the less fortunate. She’s campaigning in a place “where farming is a pre-existing condition.” Humorous little zingers pepper this play and are endearing. Her daughter screams her rage and calls the President a “pervy seventy year old.” That’s the clean version.

The playwright figured out she was a lesbian in college. “I met Dee, an androgynous heartthrob with a tragic past.” She uses characters to demonstrate alternative points of view but does not mock them. The outrage of youth is tempered by the rest of the women who are matured but seemingly hardened into their beliefs. Homeschooling mom Bethany is sure end of times is coming and she is preparing her family.

These vignettes are expanded into commentary. What is the difference between a public school education and a home schooled childhood? Public school is filled with mixing experiences, different ideas and random events. The home environment is much more controllable and, therefore, structurally more linear. With the advent of computers, chaos theory was exploding the notions of complex systems. They are non-linear, dynamic and full of contradictions. Many people need linearity, she proposes.

The Chaos Theory of Now occasionally packages its politics into simplistic liberal treatises. Some of the speeches are less compelling than the storytelling and analytical concepts. She asks us to consider “are immigrants stealing our jobs or is it robots?” In our complicated world, the answer cannot be simply a or b. Corporate greed, slave wages overseas, changes in work ethic and so on – the culprits are many and labyrinthine.

Spontaneous reorganization can happen when destabilizing elements are added into complex systems. Ms. Pawlitschek ponders with us. “What new country will come of out these tumultuous times?” What is going to emerge from this place of fear and anger? How nice to have a personal memoir performed with exuberance and joy to help us shed some light on our world today. The Chaos of Now is unique, personal and a rewarding experience.

As part of Theater For the New City’s Dream Up Festival, The Chaos Theory of Now is running through September 15th.

www.theaterforthenewcity.net

About This Reviewer - September 10, 2019September 11, 2019

Revolutionary (Theater For the New City)

With the not so faint wisps of fascism blowing all around the world today, artists seem compelled to paint the future. Prasad Paul Duffy has written and directed Revolutionary with Theo Grace composing the score and lyrics. This show has been selected as part of Theater for the New City’s Dream Up Festival. Pursuing new works presented in non-traditional ways, the festival aims to push ideas forward and encourage experimentation.

An acoustic musical described as a work-in-progress, Revolutionary is set in New York City in the not so distant future. The rights and privileges of citizens have been taken away. Artificial intelligence and cyber-automation have replaced millions of workers. Government has disabled the internet. People are being micro-chipped. In this bleak environment, a group of homeless kids struggle to survive.

Bethany (Izabel Dorst) is a whore for her pimp boyfriend Alex (Seth L. Hale). He tells her, “I really need to Elevate right now.” She got double paid today so she’s got the vape. He is planning a revolution. “It’s all in the manifesto I’ve been writing.” Without a hint of irony she replies, “Great. In the meantime, sing me a song.” Transitions from dialogue to songs in this musical can be awkward.

Gabriel (Zack Triska) opens the show. He’s a long-haired drifter type strumming his guitar and crooning about “Whispering Winds.” We meet Wolf (Jordan Mahr) and Jedi (Henry Nwaru) who will soon be his best friends on this journey. He is introduced to Maya, an amazing psychic who reads Tarot cards and can channel Bob Marley. Maya (Kurt Bantilan) is transgender and sings “Open Human Heart.” The others join in but I cannot explain why. Moments which first appear to be solos often morph into unexplained group numbers. The psychology of blind following?

A robocop arrives announcing that it’s ten minutes to curfew. James McGonagle is inspired in this very small role with jerky physicality and a primitive, computerized voice. His moments are a tad silly in an engaging way. Soon Maya is dragged off to a FEMA camp and tortured. In this future, it certainly pays to be male. The only young woman is a prostitute and the only trans person is beaten up.

Everyone heads to the Source Center which is Ground Zero for the revolution. Mother figure Maitreya (Amanda Shy) bellows “we are revolutionaries of the new paradigm.” In “Common Design” she sings “these family lines go farther than we know/Beyond ancient future times/And what we know are stories and signs/Blank puzzle pieces and hand me down minds.”

The revolution will be achieved through mental means. Some think it’s a cult. Others want to give it a try to see if they can utilize the crystal skull to escape the 3D material world and enter the 5D spiritual world. A bit of meditation is the best way to awaken the Fifth Dimension, the Oneness of Unity Consciousness. This is a thing. When I searched the internet, I saw a hyperlink to read more about “The Galactic Photon Belt.”

Is Revolutionary attempting to be another dawning of the age of Aquarius? “You say you want a revolution. Well, you know. We all want to change the world.” Occasionally a spoken line sparks a hint of something other than complete unquestioning sincerity for this metaphysical dreamscape. Telepathy is “like mental texting.”

Revolutionary has romantic subplots and a few genuine surprises to keep things interesting. The cast does a very respectable job keeping this story moving along and providing chemistry to their underdeveloped relationships. The acoustical idea in the creation of this show feels right.

The ultimate goal for this musical seems to be New Agey reinvention of a more enlightened tomorrow. All humans will find happiness, peace and love. “We are spirits in the material world.” (The pop song references are endless!) As this show develops further, more thought should go into connecting characters with the songs and their meanings. Every character should be able to answer the question, “why am I singing this?”

“When I see myself reflected in your eyes/the mystery collides/and destiny redefines.” When that song finishes, Wolf says what perhaps we are thinking: “Okay. I’ve had enough of this shit. Let’s go.” Will the whole groovy gang eventually go 5D? Will love conquer all? Revolutionary is very seriously committed to its mystical vision. My eyes, regrettably, are wearing the wrong glasses.

Revolutionary will be playing at the Theater For the New City through September 15th.

www.theaterforthenewcity.net

About This Reviewer - September 10, 2019

Bad News! i was there…

Arriving at New York University’s Skirball Center, I was handed two green cards. The Oedipus card contained this quote from Sophocles: “How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be when there’s no help in truth.” Heading down the stairs into the waiting lobby, the walls were adorned with information about the Greeks and current headlines about various disasters. So begins the site-specific experience appropriately titled Bad News! i was there…

Eight actors begin this piece on the stairs above the crowd. They introduce the players of Athens. We hear “no greatness comes without disaster.” Audience guides who double as the chorus split the groups by color. There are four separate areas where messengers from classical drama share shocking stories from the ancient world. The famous tales of madness, murder, warfare and infanticide are performed from the works of Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Racine and Brecht.

The monologues are spoken and sung in English with a handful of other languages thrown in occasionally. Presumably this is meant to underscore the universal nature of the human condition. In certain sections, there is a contemporary feel rather than a more traditional, classical presentation. When it is announced that “Orestes is dead,” the next line is “fake news.” That is followed by misinformation about one of our current presidential candidates. “AOC opposes daylight savings time because it hastens climate change.”

From each double monologue, the group is escorted to the next location with song. Mine was “Paris, Priam, Hector, Hecuba.” It will be days before that melody leaves my head. All of this bad news is punctuated with “I was there and I will tell you everything.” Creator and Director JoAnne Akalaitis is drawing parallels between these horrific histories to our current obsession with first person narration of bad news.

My last group section was Medea and Thyestes which hilariously began with Jenny Ikeda holding something which could easily represent a book report. She mischieviously looks up at us and promises “Medea – the high points.” When you hear the line “passion is stronger than reason” it is up to each person to interpret the connection to current events.

In the final part, all of the audience comes together to see citizens waiting for the return of their men from war. “Never in the history of the world did so many men die on the same day.” Fake news now! The human race has certainly bettered the death count in modern times.

Bad News! i was there… is more interesting than successful as a piece of theater. The group transitions were slightly bumbling. Companies like Third Rail Projects have memorably orchestrated how intriguing and mystical those movements can be as part of an entire experience. All of the individual performances were good, however. It was certainly curious hearing other stories simultaneously occurring in the background while listening to the section you were in. Therein lies the problem; a lack of focus. Perhaps that is a commentary on modern times as well.