Life & Times of Michael K

The sirens and overhead airplanes immediately provide the backdrop for this often sad and somewhat harrowing tale.  A fictional civil war in South Africa is ever present.  J.M. Coetzee’s 1983 Booker Prize winning novel Life & Times of Michael K was adapted for the stage in a visually arresting production.

Michael K is an everyman.  He was born with a cleft lip, always an outcast of sorts.  He suffers indignities through life.  When he enacts a plan to return his ailing mother to her childhood farm he comes face to face with the dystopian world around him.  The dramatic events are not farfetched:  curfews, raids, labor camps, refugees, mayhem and destruction.  Conflicts occur amidst Michael’s good intentions.

This production was an enormous hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has had other productions elsewhere.  The reasons are numerous.  Michael, his mother and many of the characters are puppets manipulated by up to three actors.  Their character movements and expressions are precise, developing many layers of emotional depth.

The telling of this everyman story through an intricately carved wooden figure is inspired.  Michael chases a goat (puppet) into a river in a marvelously inventive scene which is visually astonishing.  Handspring Puppet Company (War Horse) designed the very memorable creations.

Surrounding this wonder is a solid cast who manage to interact with the puppets as well as embody them.  Added to that are film segments (such as travel) which include close ups of the puppets moving through their journey.  The play is enhanced by a musical composition by Kyle Shepherd.  All of the individual pieces point to a truly inventive imagining of a classic tale.  Lara Foot adapted the book and directed this piece.

Unfortunately the proceedings were plodding at best and, I hate to say, not infrequently boring.  Two hours of slow paced storytelling along with fragmentary transitions were a challenge to sit through.  The richness of the visuals and the performances could not overcome the tedium.  Three of us attended together.  Rarely are we all completely in sync when we see something.  We were wholly aligned on this one and, therefore, disappointed by this highly lauded theatrical event.

Life & Times of Michael K was performed at the St. Ann’s Warehouse and concluded its run on December 23, 2023.  Next up is Volcano described as part theater, part dance and part sci-fi thriller running January 10th through the 21st.

www.stannswarehouse.org

www.handspringpuppet.com

Jen Silverman’s play Spain introduced me to a film I had never heard of.  The Spanish Earth, released in 1937, was an anti-fascist film made during the Spanish Civil War.  This movie was directed by Joris Ivens and written by John Dos Passos and Ernest Hemingway.  All three are characters in this fictional retelling.

The key thematic element of Spain is the role of artists in creating propaganda.  Mr. Ivens (Andrew Burnap) is being paid handsomely by the Russians to bring the uprising to reflect the side they preferred.  Foreign governments mix with Americans to wage opinion wars.  Still topical today (and probably forever).

Helen (Marin Ireland) will be assisting Joris under the guise of being his girlfriend.  They wax poetic about the morality of what they are doing.  “Can a false story be so good that it does something true?” is the point here.  It is also the reason for this play’s existence given our world of persistent and deliberate misinformation.  You can almost hear the “fake news” and “witch hunts” screaming in the ether.

Spain tends to be a tedious and confusing imaginary tale of the creation of a certain piece of propaganda which has its place in history and can still be viewed on You Tube.  The best part of this production is the very cool noir elements of the staging and particularly the lighting (Jen Schriever).  Columns of white light traverse the black stage between scenes like a computer scanning for information.

The performances are all solid with Danny Wolohan’s Hemingway a boisterous blowhard treat.  His writing partner Dos Passos (Erik Lochtefeld) is an meek sidekick who is overwhelmed by the manly man.  This fictionalized recap is less about what happened specifically and more about the obligations of artists shaping the world and its politics.

The earnestness is marred by bizarreness toward the end.  Film clips are finally shown accompanied by an aria which is oddly confusing.  A final scene thrusts the internet propaganda machine front and center as if we could not make that leap ourselves.  It adds nothing and detracts from the stylized environment so carefully calibrated in unearthing this relic and bearing in mind its import today.

Spain concluded its run at the Tony Kiser Theater on December 17, 2023.

www.2st.com

youtube.com/thespanishearth

The still raging battles between science and religion.  The never ending chasm between Christians and Jews.  A doctor’s oath to their patients.  The politics of hospitals.  Arthur Schnitzler wrote Professor Bernhardi in 1912 which was so contentious that the premiere happened in Germany not his own Austria.  The Doctor is Robert Icke’s loosely adapted and vividly riveting adaptation.

Ruth Wolff is literally the top dog of this hospital.  A patient is dying of sepsis from a botched self-administered abortion.  Her family sends a priest to administer last rites.  She refuses to let him in as the patient is dying and did not request the visit.  Her obligation is only the medical well being of this young lady.  A hundred years after this play was written the story is still relevant.

A media cyclone ensues and tensions escalate.  The Executive Committee of the hospital is mixed in their support for its leader.  The parents and the priest are in destruction mode.  Careers are on the line; saving some while opportunistically elevating others.  Personal and work life balance is addressed.  Should we break our existence into smaller and smaller tribes whereby agreement is assured?

This full meal is expertly served by Mr. Icke as writer and director.  Hildegard Bechtler’s sleekly modern set captures the sterile world of committees bereft of humanism and moneyed medical facilities.  Lighting changes (Natasha Chivers) suggest additional scene locales notably Dr. Wolff’s home and a television studio.  The production is handsome and appropriately cold.

For this modern retelling current hot buttons involving gender and sexuality are included.  Both are handled frankly.  They do not feel forced.  As a result, the worries of yesterday are combined with those of today which might be predictive of the tribulations of tomorrow.  There is a lot to sink your teeth into while absorbing this superbly executed staging.

Juliet Stevenson portrays the intensely devoted medical Doctor.  Her performance is a towering achievement.  There is heavy drama in the hardness of steadfast beliefs especially when those monumental walls begin to chip away.  Every scene is believable and audience discomfort is assured.

John Mackey’s priest is equally self-righteous leading to the inevitable court of public opinion.  That particular segment is as ugly as our television and social media outlets today.  There is ingenious blind casting of race contained herein.  Conclusions and conflicts are brought into stark relief as those revelations appear.

The entire cast is excellent.  Jaime Schwartz’s Junior is a teenage maelstrom of emotions, trust and self-preservation.  Juliet Garricks plays significant other Charlie with grace.  Dr. Wolff is definitely a blowhard so the view into a homelife is welcome.  Naomi Wirthner memorably inhabits the loyal Hardiman but also morphs into one of the enraged judges.

Witch hunt is the mood of this piece so the adaptation is timely.  There is no simple solution offered.  How you react to the material will depend on your own personal biases and beliefs.  The Doctor has a lot to say and many themes to consider.  A stellar presentation enhances the written word and the issues debated go around and around, never truly being resolved.

During COVID I saw Professor Bernhardi streamed from the excellent Schaubüehne theater company in Berlin.  In Munich, I saw another adaptation written as Doktor Alici which included humor.  The original play was sarcastically billed as a comedy in five acts.  Mr. Schnitzler’s play is worth experiencing as long as these conflicts remain topical.  I expect no movement on that front anytime soon.

The Doctor is running until August 19, 2023 at the beautiful and expansive Park Avenue Armory.  Arrive early to view the historical rooms.

www.armoryonpark.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/professorbernhardi

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/doktoralici

tg

Inspired by its Homeric influence, black odyssey is Marcus Gardley’s personal reimagination of this classic poem.  His take focuses on his people, black Americans, rather than the ancient Greeks.  Instead of beginning at the end of the Trojan War, he starts off after Ulysses Lincoln (Sean Boyce Johnson) serves in Afghanistan.

The gods are playing chess with these humans.  The sea god renamed Paw Sidin (Jimonn Cole) is furious with Ulysses for killing his son in the war.  On the other side of this match is Deus (James T. Alfred) who sends his wife Athena to watch over Ulysses’ family.  Paralleling the original tale, Ulysses has to endure a long and perilous journey at sea when the war ended.  His Harlem family fears he is dead.

There are many moments of seriousness and drama as one would expect.  Amusements are scattered throughout this text as well.  Athena is renamed Aunt Tee (Harriet D. Foy) in this version.  Deus remarks that he should call her Minerva (the Roman god commonly associated with Athena) “because she works my nerves”.  A playfulness imbues this production culminating in a surprisingly appealing musical interlude in the second act.

For this author the American dream is a nightmare “to keep me asleep and broke” adding “now I’m woke”.  That word seems to be a lightning rod in today’s contentious society.  Conservative leaders and media outlets practically froth at the mouth while ridiculing it as an evil to be destroyed.  Here that word brings up-to-date a long arduous journey for a people who endured four hundred years of slavery and its omnipresent aftermath.

Mr. Gardley’s play loosely connects the Odyssey to the epic centuries of the black American experience.  One intimate section finds Ulysses encountering a family stranded on a rooftop.  Their house is surrounded by water.  Surely the government is going to provide assistance.  The appalling Katrina imagery your mind brings to this vividly staged scene cannot be denied.

The script contains an uncountable number of references.  The people, places and things do underscore the epic nature of the storytelling.  They are also tossed out and discarded quickly presumably to mimic the multitudinous details interwoven in the 12,109 lines from the classic poem.

Stevie Walker-Webb directed black odyssey.  The performances are strong across the board.  Visual tableaus command attention including the ingenious usages of the boat (Set Designer David Goldstein).  The tension is palpable and the laughs are big.  The play is a wild hodgepodge of ideas and Mr. Walker-Webb is up to the task just as he was with Ain’t No Mo’ this season.  I look forward to what follows.

There is a cacophony of feverish debate (to be kind) about diversity in the arts these days.  Inclusiveness often materializes as a deafening roar on social media.  How to effectively “see” the broad colors of America.  Just as important, if not more, is to “hear” perspectives from those whose epic journeys vary significantly from one’s own.  Maybe then Ulysses won’t have to wonder why so many people “lose their minds” when they hear the phrase “Black Lives Matter”.

black odyssey is running at the Classic Stage Company through March 26, 2023.

www.classicstage.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/Ain’t No Mo’

If you have not ventured into an Off-Broadway theater in a while, there are some excellent options currently available.  If you attend regularly try not to miss Washington Square from the Axis Theatre Company.  The production is Grade A storytelling, acting, costuming, lighting and mood setting.

This play is a new adaptation of the 1880 Henry James novel which has been famously and frequently seen as The Heiress.  I saw the Jessica Chastain Broadway version in 2012.  Olivia de Haviland did the Oscar winning film.  The story has topical appeal with its central themes of class, wealth and social status intertwined with women’s freedoms and personal happiness.

One aspect which makes this take so fascinating is the location.  Blocks away from the Washington Square setting, this small Greenwich Village basement really enhances the claustrophobia Catherine must feel cooped up in her tyrannical father’s lavish brownstone.  The curtains are drawn and the mood is dark.

The set consists of two chairs.  No adornments on the walls or floors.  Just lighting and four actors in resplendent period costumes.  A father who hates familiarity.  “It’s vulgar” he says.  Repressed formality is the world here.  Happiness is not a goal.  In this particular closet daughter Catherine lives under strict rule.

The plot is simple.  Father blames overly plain daughter for his wife’s death during childbirth.  He is a domineering grump who bellows “you’re as intelligent as a bundle of shawls”.  His widowed sister lives with them and yearns for a romanticism which eludes her at an advanced age.  She noses her way in anyway when Catherine begins a relationship with a handsome, jobless, penniless suitor.  All the other characters are stripped away in Randy Sharp’s adaptation so the whole meal is a delicious entrée.

The four performances are spot on perfect.  Dee Pelletier is a delightful busybody whose backstory is apparent through her current words and actions.  Both men, George Demas (Doctor) and Jon McCormick (Morris Townsend), are complexly drawn people with nuanced motivations.  Britt Genelin is, quite frankly, breathtaking in the role of Catherine.  All the layers are extraordinarily developed and utterly believable.  Her physicality amazes.  This has to be one of the tightest ensembles on any New York stage right now.

In addition to writing the adaptation, Ms. Sharp directed this return engagement.  You can always count on Axis to set a pitch perfect mood as in their tensely wrought High Noon, the immigrant musical Evening – 1910 and the howling dust bowl setting of Last Man Club.  While always minimalistic yet impressively effective in design, the storytelling and casting are always maximally delivered.  The last seconds of this one are brilliant.  Go.

Washington Square is running through April 1, 2023.

www.axiscompany.com

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/lastmanclub

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/highnoon

Francie Nolan was the central character in Betty Smith’s 1943 megahit semi-autobiographical novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  This young girl is bright, keenly observant and a dreamer.  A decade earlier Ms. Smith penned a play Becomes A Woman while at the University of Michigan with a main character also named Francie Nolan.  This work has never been published or produced until now.

This production is typical of discoveries made by the Mint Theatre Company.  A forgotten work from the past.  Seeking out female authors.  An old three act structure.  Warmly evocative sets and costumes.  Largely memorable performances.  And, most importantly, a revelatory glimpse back in time.

What was going on in Ms. Smith’s mind?  This play focuses its theme on the burdens women face under the expectations of men.  Bosses, husbands, fathers, brothers and suitors crowd the psyche.  A coworker tells Francie “a girl has to really like a man before she gets intimate with him, but a man has to get really intimate with a girl before he likes her”.  That viewpoint is hardly archaic which greatly enhances exploration within this time capsule.

Why was this play never produced despite winning a prestigious award at Michigan?  Early 1930’s America was beginning to clamp down on transgressive themes.  The Hollywood code was right around the corner.  Premarital sex (for women) was verboten by religions, by parents and by societal pressures.  How a young lady is expected to navigate her life within that world is the play’s milieu.

The story itself is not particularly revelatory as the expected joys and horrors of becoming a woman are examined.  Really interesting, however, is burying this thoughtful study from view by the morality police.  I’m not suggesting a direct intervention hurt this play’s chances but a patriarchal hierarchy coupled with religious zealotry certainly influenced what should be acceptable for public consumption.  As our country clamps down once again on what it views as transgressive, Becomes A Woman seems a timely dose of historical perspective.

Emma Pfitzer Price admirably inhabited Francie’s emergence from naive dreamer to open eyed realist.  Her parents were recognizable stereotypes but given depth by the excellence of Jeb Brown and Antoinette LaVecchia.  Store coworkers Gina Daniels and a period perfect Pearl Rhein nicely assisted in setting the time and place.  The “villains” were, as you would expect, slimy and familiar tropes.

Add Becomes A Woman to the Mint’s lengthy win column.  I’ve added A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to my lengthy reading list.

Becomes A Woman is playing at New York City Center through March 18, 2023.  Also highly recommended are previous productions which are streamed for free online.  Currently there are two available:  George Kelly’s Philip Goes Forth and Lillian Hellman’s Days to Come.

www.minttheater.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/daystocome

Here’s another rediscovered little gem from the ever resourceful Mint Theater.  The Rat Trap was Noel Coward’s first play, written when he was eighteen.  This production is its American premiere.  Filled with intense cynicism and psychological warfare, this play is long overdue to be seen.

Mr. Coward would soon enough become famous in the years after this play was created.  In an introduction to a book containing three early works he describes wanting to defy the forces of “sex-repression, lack of education, religious mania, respectability, and above all, moral cowardice”.  Funny how timely 1918 can feel today.

The Rat Trap takes place over four acts.  Sheila Brandreth and Keld Maxwell are two up-and-coming writers madly in love.  The celebration in Olive-Lloyd Kennedy’s London flat is filled with bubbles and witticisms.  Fresh faces gloriously beginning their lives brimming with he hopes and dreams of youthful innocence.

Dear friend Olive has a telling conversation with Sheila where she warns against the dangers of marriage.  There has to be sacrifice in order for the institution to work.  She believes Sheila is the more clever of the happy couple.  As a result, she will be the one to sacrifice.  It is no surprise that the play proceeds directly down that path.

What’s most interesting about The Rat Trap is the darkness of the material.  Where these two tread is a shockingly abusive, immersive train wreck.  There’s no real mystery about what will happen.  The pessimistic ending is fully appropriate and, frankly, a sad inevitability.

The core relationship has to degrade believably and does so here thanks to unsympathetic performances by Sarin Monae West and James Evans.  Their chemistry is spot on and the two year time arc comes across as realistic if predictable.

Cynthia Mace (as the maid Burrage) and Claire Saunders (as young starlet Ruby Raymond) have superb moments which lighten the mood amidst the looming dark clouds.  The hipster friends Naomi and Edmund came across a tad too cartoonish but they are not full characters just representations of a free love ideal.

The Rat Trap would be an excellent choice for regional and community theater productions.  Juicy parts and crackling dialogue with a topic that never seems to get old.  When we look back with open eyes, we realize how little we learn.

Next up from the Mint is Betty Smith’s Becomes A Woman.  This play was written in 1930.  She would find huge success in 1943 with her debut novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  This semi-autobiographical coming-of-age play has never been produced or published so this production will be a world premiere.

The Rat Trap concluded performances on December 10, 2023.  Becomes A Woman is scheduled to run from February 7 through March 18, 2023 at City Center.

www.minttheater.org

www.nycitycenter.org